# Yuji Ueda

> Yuji Ueda is the founder and CEO of Gaiax, a Japanese listed internet company and startup studio. He founded it in 1999 at 24, took it public in 2005 at 30, and developed a culture of autonomy, employee life planning and venture carve-outs. He is also a representative director of the Sharing Economy Association, Japan.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO; Representative Executive Officer and President at Gaiax
- **Organizations:** Gaiax Co., Ltd., Sharing Economy Association, Japan, Unito
- **From:** Ibaraki, Osaka, Japan
- **Education:** Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Doshisha University
- **Known for:** Founded Gaiax at 24 and took it public at 30., Built Gaiax into an operating company and startup studio supporting internal ventures, alumni founders and external startups., Developed Gaiax’s carve-out option allowing business members to acquire ownership and operate separate ventures.

## Career timeline

- **1997** — Graduated from Doshisha University’s Faculty of Economics and joined Venture Link.
- **1998** — Built an online New Year greeting service before founding Gaiax.
- **1999** — Founded Gaiax in March at age 24; the company changed to a joint-stock corporation in May.
- **2005** — Gaiax listed on the Nagoya Stock Exchange on July 12, when Ueda was 30.
- **2006** — Became Representative Executive Officer and President and a director of Gaiax in August.
- **2016** — Became a representative director of the Sharing Economy Association, Japan in January.
- **2024** — Gaiax received an Emerging Excellence Award in the inaugural ZeroDX Awards.

## Achievements

- Founded Gaiax at 24 and took it public at 30.
- Built Gaiax into an operating company and startup studio supporting internal ventures, alumni founders and external startups.
- Developed Gaiax’s carve-out option allowing business members to acquire ownership and operate separate ventures.
- Gaiax received an Emerging Excellence Award in the ZeroDX Awards 2024 for its organizational approach.

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Gaiax’s annual securities report continued to list Ueda as director and Representative Executive Officer and President.
- **2026-03** — Gaiax announced a Locotabi management investment, an agreement leading to deconsolidation from the second quarter, and plans to integrate the aini experience business into Locotabi.
- **2025-08** — Gaiax announced its appearance as a ZeroDX Award recipient at the August 5 RenDanHeYi Japan research-center launch event.

## Links

- Website: https://yujiueda.com/blog/
- LinkedIn: https://jp.linkedin.com/in/yujiueda
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/yujiyuji
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yuji.ueda

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/yuji-ueda
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-22