Kevin Bleyer is a multiple Emmy award-winning writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, contributor to President Barack Obama's speeches, co-author of the #1 NY Times Bestseller Earth: The Book, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Television writing[link]

After doing commentaries and freelance reporting for NPR's "All Things Considered" and American Public Media's "Marketplace", Bleyer began his television writing career as a writer and producer for Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher from 1996 to 2002.^[1] He then wrote for the critically acclaimed Bravo series Significant Others and created and executive produced the Showtime pilot Nightly, in which he was also featured as an on-air correspondent.^[2] In 2003, Bleyer became a writer and producer on Dennis Miller, a position he held until the show's cancellation in 2005.^[3]

In 2005, Bleyer joined the writing staff of The Daily Show, where he has worked on over 1000 episodes and several specials, earning three Emmys in the process.^[4] He also won a WGA Award in 2010 for his work on the show in 2009.^[5]

Bleyer was also one of several Daily Show writers to write for the 80th Annual Academy Awards in 2008, when Jon Stewart served as host.^[6]

Political writing and activities[link]

Since 2008, Bleyer has contributed to a number of U.S. President Barack Obama's speeches, including the President's addresses at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner in 2012^[7], 2011^[8][9], 2010^[10] and 2009. After the speech in 2010, reporters from several outlets reported erroneously that The Daily Show staff worked on the President's remarks. The White House and Comedy Central clarified that Bleyer worked independently on the speech, in light of accusations of the show being too close to President Barack Obama.^[11][12][13]

Among the first contributors chosen to launch The Huffington Post, Bleyer is a frequent commentator for National Public Radio. He also reported from Iraq as part of The Daily Show's "Operation: Silent Thunder," featuring correspondent Rob Riggle, in 2007.^[14] That same year, he was profiled by Charlie Rose.^[15]

In 2008, Bleyer participated in a mock debate before the United States Congress based on the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, which involved multiple sitting Congresspeople.^[16] He also spoke to NPR about his involvement in the strike.^[17]

Bleyer is the author of the upcoming book Me The People: One Man's Selfless Quest to Rewrite the Constitution of the United States of America, which will be published by Random House in June of 2012.^[18]

Personal life[link]

Bleyer is the younger brother of sports anchor Keith Bleyer.

Bleyer was raised in Washington and had a role in the movie Twice in a Lifetime as a teenager. He went on to attend Stanford University, where he studied communications and computer engineering and earned a degree in the former in 1994. He also had an internship at New York's Public Theater, where he assisted playwright Anna Deavere Smith and performed dramaturgical duties with playwright Tony Kushner.^[19]

He lives in New York.

References[link]

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Rakuten

Traded as	JASDAQ: 4755
Industry	e-commerce and diversified products and holdings
Founded	February 7th, 1997
Founder(s)	Hiroshi Mikitani
Headquarters	Tokyo, Japan Shinagawa Seaside Rakuten Tower 4-12-3 Higashishinagawa Shinagawa-Ku Tokyo 140-0002 Japan
Area served	Japan and worldwide
Key people	Hiroshi Mikitani, Chairman & CEO
Revenue	US$4.7 billion (December 2011) [1]
Operating income	US$886 million (December 2011) [1]
Net income	US$14 million (December 2011) [1]
Total assets	US$23.8 billion (December 2011) [1]
Employees	5,810 (2009) [2] 7,119 (Consolidated) (As of Dec 31st, 2010) [3] 3,042 (Non-consolidated) (As of Dec 31st, 2010) [3]
Website	rakuten.co.jp (Japanese corporate site) global.rakuten.com/group/ (portal for all Rakuten services)

Hiroshi Mikitani, founder and CEO of Rakuten, at the press conference about the e-G8 forum during the 37th G8 summit in Deauville, France. (26 May 2011)

Rakuten, Inc. (楽天株式会社, Rakuten Kabushiki-kaisha^?) (JASDAQ: 4755) ranks among the top 10 internet companies in the world. Among its numerous online properties, its flagship B2B2C (business-to-business-to-consumer) model e-commerce site Rakuten Ichiba is the largest e-commerce site in Japan and among the world’s largest by sales. Its global presence has been reinforced through the acquisitions of leading online marketplaces Buy.com (US), Priceminister (France), Ikeda (now Rakuten Brasil), Tradoria (now Rakuten Deutschland) and Play.com (UK), and investments in Ozon.ru and AHA Life. Whereas other marketplaces may compete directly with sellers, Rakuten’s model seeks to empower merchants to deliver Omotenashi, a Japanese high service mindset, which helps sellers create lasting relationships with customers.^[4]

Rakuten has been expanding rapidly overseas in recent years, primarily through acquisitions and joint ventures.^[5] Its founder, chairman and chief executive officer is Hiroshi Mikitani. The company has its headquarters in the Shinagawa Seaside Rakuten Tower (品川シーサイド楽天タワー, Shinagawa Shīsaido Rakuten Tawā^?) in Higashi Shinagawa, Shinagawa, Tokyo.^[6][7]

The company was founded in February 1997 as MDM, Inc. Rakuten Shopping Mall (楽天市場, Rakuten Ichiba^?) started operations in May the same year. In June 1999 MDM, Inc. changed its name to Rakuten, Inc.

Rakuten's 2011 revenues were US$ 4.7 billion with operating profits of approximately US$886M, suggesting an 18.8% operating profit margin. The company is publicly-traded (JASDAQ: 4755). As of December 2011, it has a market capitalization of US$13 billion and some 10,000 employees worldwide.

Rakuten ranks amongst the top 10 Internet companies in the world (along with Google, Amazon, eBay, Baidu, Yahoo, etc.).^[8]

Lines of business[link]

The Rakuten Group is composed of the following businesses:

1. E-Commerce Marketplace, managing Japan's largest online retail marketplace;
2. Credit and Payments, offering personal consumer credit services including consumer loan card payment and loans
3. Portal and Media, managing portal sites—which act as the gateway to the internet—and performing other activities;
4. Travel, operating hotel booking and other travel-related websites and providing other services;
5. Securities, providing services such as online securities brokerage;
6. Professional Sports, managing a professional baseball team, planning and selling related merchandise and performing other activities; and
7. Banking, offering card loan, mortgage and other banking services for individuals.

Rakuten's online shopping business, Rakuten Ichiba, is the largest online shopping mall in Japan, and allows customers to shop more than 95 million products from around 40,000 merchants.^[9][10] It has 6 million credit card holders and a membership of over 75 million users in Japan.^[10]

As part of its Internationalization efforts, Rakuten Ichiba has started offering international shipping.

Developments[link]

In October 2005, Rakuten bought a 15% stake in Tokyo Broadcasting System thereby raising its ownership to 19%.^[11] Rakuten was said to plan a merger with the broadcast company, but eventually withdrew its bid and divested its shareholdings.^[12][13]

Rakuten owns a US specialized subsidiary, FreeCause, founded in 2006 and located in Boston, Massachusetts, that develops and enhances loyalty rewards programs for major brands, airlines, hotels, sports teams and non-profits. As of January 2012, it has more than 20,000,000 members, 3,500 partners and merchants, and 300 clients.^[14] The USA headquarters for Rakuten is also located in Boston.^[15]

Rakuten was a significant shareholder in Ctrip, a Chinese travel site, but in August 2007, the company sold its share in Ctrip. Later in 2005, Rakuten acquired Linkshare (now "Rakuten Linkshare"), a New York City-based company, dealing in sales and marketing performance analysis.^{[16][17][18][15]}

In 2010, in another effort to increase its global competitiveness, Rakuten announced its intention to make English the company’s official language by mid-2012.^[19][20] That year, Rakuten also acquired the French e-commerce site Priceminister for €200 million^[21] and US-based Buy.com for US$250 million.^[22][23]

The company also announced joint ventures with Baidu in China (Lekutian) ^[24][8] and with MNC Group in Indonesia (Rakuten Belanja Online).

After launching Rakuten Belanja Online service on June 1, 2011, Rakuten continued its global acquisition trend with the purchase of Brazilian e-commerce firm Ikeda (now Rakuten Brazil) that same month. In July, it acquired e-commerce startup Tradoria in Germany (now Rakuten Deutschland), and in September purchased UK e-commerce pioneer Play.com for £25 million.^[25]

In September 2011, Rakuten purchased a minority equity stake in Russian online retailer Ozon.ru. The total infusion of capital was US$100 million divided between four buyers, of which Rakuten was one. Rakuten's stake is unknown.^[26]

In November 2011 Rakuten signed an agreement to purchase the ebook company Kobo.^[27][28] The deal was finalized in January 2012.^[29]

On 17th of May 2012, Rakuten announced that it is leading a $100M investment in Pinterest, with participation from existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners, and FirstMark Capital, as well as a number of angel investors. The investment marks the start of a strategic partnership between Rakuten and Pinterest to help expand in Japan and into Rakuten’s 17 other global markets. Hiroshi Mikitani, CEO of Rakuten said: “While some may see e-commerce as a straightforward vending machine-like experience, we believe it is a living process where both retailers and consumers can communicate, discover, and curate to make the experience more entertaining. We see tremendous synergies between Pinterest’s vision and Rakuten’s model for e-commerce. Rakuten looks forward to introducing Pinterest to the Japanese market as well as other markets around the world.^[30]

Selected subsidiaries[link]

( source Rakuten Inc. ^[31] )

• Rakuten Auction Inc.
• Rakuten Travel, Inc.
• Rakuten Enterprise Inc.
• Rakuten Bus Services Inc.
• Signature Japan Co., Ltd.
• Rakuten Securities, Inc.
• Rakuten Linkshare (formerly LinkShare Corporation)
• Rakuten Baseball, Inc.
• Rakuten Card Co., Ltd
• Keiba Mall, Inc.
• Dot Commodity, Inc.
• Fusion Communications Corp.
• Rakuten Bank, Ltd.
• Rakuten Mortgage, Inc.
• Net's Partners, Inc.
• ShowTime, Inc. (Japan) ^[32]
• Rakuten Research, Inc.
• Onet, Inc.
• Rakuten Insurance Planning Co., Ltd.
• FreeCause (USA) ^[14]
• Play.com
• Buy.com

See also[link]

• Vissel Kobe
• Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
• Japan Open Tennis Championships
• Rakuten Institute of Technology
• Yukihiro Matsumoto

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• "Stepping out: New Japan v old Japan", The Economist, June 23rd, 2011

External links[link]

• Rakuten Ichiba (Japanese)
• Taiwan Rakuten Ichiba (Chinese)
• Rakuten Germany (German)
• Rakuten company info