Kon Kenta (近健太), who will become president and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation in April 2026, said “I love money” as part of his self-introduction in a supporter advertisement for the Intercity Baseball Tournament. The episode drew attention to the background and significance of the new president, who comes from an accounting background and combines a solid career history with a lighthearted turn of phrase.
Kon Kenta (近健太), who will become president and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation in April 2026, has spent many years working in finance and accounting and has built a career that includes experience as CFO. He also served for a period as secretary to Toyoda Akio (豊田章男), building practical experience and trust as his successor.
A supporter advertisement for the tournament featured a character persona that said, “I love money,” and Kon Kenta (近健太) used the phrase in introducing himself, drawing on his own career history. By recasting his focus on numbers as “I love money,” he found an attention-grabbing way to present himself to readers.
What makes this episode distinctive is that the character persona did not suddenly emerge for the supporter advertisement, but had existed as part of his long career and personal self-presentation. The transformation of the wording and the use of parenthetical explanations function as a way of presenting his personality, rather than as an official corporate position.
The episode offers material for considering how expressions that link the “personality” of a corporate leader with an image of numbers are read, while also highlighting how such expressions can blur the boundary between official corporate comments and an individual’s conduct.