Shigehisa Takada

Shigehisa Takada was born in Tokyo on 12 February 1966 into the family that owned Takata. His grandfather Takezo Takada had founded the business in 1933 in Shiga Prefecture as a textile company, making products such as lifelines for parachutes. His father, Juichiro Takada, later led the company through decades of growth into seat belts and airbags, and his mother, Akiko Takada, was also involved in the business until 2005. Growing up as the heir to one of Japan's better known family manufacturers, he was expected from an early age to join the company.

Takada studied at Keio University in Tokyo and graduated from its Faculty of Science and Technology in March 1988. He joined Takata the following month, in April 1988, straight after university.

Takada rose steadily through the family company. He became a director in June 1996 and a representative director and senior managing director in June 2002. In June 2007, at 41, he succeeded his father Juichiro as president and chief executive. At the time Takata was among the world's largest suppliers of seat belts and airbags, and its market value peaked that year at around 400 billion yen. In 2013 he hired Stefan Stocker, the former president of Bosch's Japanese arm, as president and became chairman himself. Stocker left after about 18 months, and from 24 December 2014 Takada served as both chairman and president.

Takada's leadership was dominated by the crisis over Takata airbag inflators, which could rupture and send metal fragments into vehicle cabins. Recalls that started in 2013 grew into the largest automotive recall in history, eventually covering more than 100 million inflators from more than 20 carmakers. The United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has attributed 28 deaths in the United States to the defect. Takada was criticised for staying out of public view for months, apologising through written statements and newspaper advertisements while deputies testified before the United States Congress. He made his first public apology at a Tokyo news conference on 25 June 2015 and rejected calls to resign. In November 2015 United States regulators imposed a penalty of up to 200 million dollars, and in January 2017 the company agreed to plead guilty and pay 1 billion dollars while three executives were charged. Investors later faulted the founding family's slow response to the crisis.

Takada had pursued a quiet out-of-court debt restructuring, but after media reports in June 2017 that Takata would seek bankruptcy, lenders and carmakers lost patience. On 25 June 2017 its United States unit TK Holdings filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware, and on 26 June Takata filed for civil rehabilitation in Tokyo. At a news conference that day Takada bowed in apology and said he and top management would resign once the timing of the restructuring was set. Most of the business was sold for about 1.6 billion dollars to Key Safety Systems and renamed Joyson Safety Systems. When the deal was completed in April 2018, Takata announced that Takada had formally stepped down, ending the family's 85 year control of the brand.

Takada was frequently described as discreet, reserved and averse to the spotlight. He rarely gave interviews. Details of any marriage or children were not made public. His mother, Akiko Takada, later served as director of the Takata Foundation. His father died in February 2011.

In his rare public appearances Takada framed the crisis in terms of responsibility to customers. In June 2015 he said that a company that should provide safety had ended up hurting its users, which grieved him deeply, and that his first responsibility was to make sure the company responded firmly to the problem. When Takata filed for bankruptcy in 2017 he said that court proceedings in Japan and the United States were the best way to deal with the costs and liabilities of the inflator issue with certainty and in an organised manner.

Takada's legacy is defined by the Takata airbag scandal, which reshaped auto safety regulation and supplier oversight and led several carmakers to stop using ammonium nitrate based inflators. The recalls continue years later, and regulators still urge owners of affected older vehicles to have them repaired. The collapse also ended one of Japan's prominent business dynasties, wiping out most of the Takada family's fortune in the company. His tenure is often cited in discussions of crisis communication and corporate accountability, particularly the long delay before he spoke publicly.

No major public awards or honours for Takada personally have been documented in available sources.

Takada's bow of apology at the June 2015 Tokyo news conference and his appearance at the June 2017 bankruptcy news conference were widely broadcast by Japanese and international outlets, including Kyodo News, Jiji Press, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, Euronews and the Associated Press. The airbag crisis has also been the subject of later documentaries and explainers.

Takada's death at the age of 60 was reported by Bloomberg on 16 October 2026, citing people familiar with the matter, who said his funeral had been held that week. The cause, exact date and place of his death were not made public. His mother, Akiko, declined to comment.