Why Bill Gates added Hiroshi Mikitani’s book to his summer reading list

Bill Gates just released his annual summer reading list and he included “The Power to Compete,” a book written by Rakuten’s founder and CEO, Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani, alongside his economist father, Ryoichi Mikitani, who passed away in 2013.

In his endorsement, Bill described the book as “super-interesting” and explained, “If you’re as interested in Japan as I am, I think you’ll find that ‘The Power to Compete’ is a smart and thought-provoking look at the future of a fascinating country.”

This past December, Mickey had the opportunity to share the stage with Bill at an event in Tokyo, where they discussed the relationship between innovation and philanthropy. It was a lively conversation and it became clear that there were a lot of parallels between Bill’s passion for using philanthropy and technology to bring about social change and Rakuten’s own philosophy of empowering the world through the internet.

So, if you haven’t already, why not check out “The Power to Compete,” along with the other books on Bill’s list?