Originally Posted by
Obeast
I thought this was a giant corporation until I checked the wiki and see the name Yozo Shimano as CEO...does anyone have a link that details this family history?
Shimano is a publicly-traded corporation, but its presidents have all been descendants of the company's founder.
Shozaburo Shimano founded Shimano Iron Works in 1921. It went public in 1940 and he was president until his death in 1958.
His three sons were the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th presidents of Shimano:
Shozo Shimano 1958-1992
Keizo Shimano 1992-1995
Yoshizo Shimano 1995-2001
Yozo Shimano, Shozo's son, is the 5th and current president, heading the company since 2001.
Originally Posted by
Obeast
What about the Sram and Campagnolo family?
The Sram family? The SRAM name is a made-up word, constructed from parts of the three founders' names when they started the company in 1987. Stan Day, one of the founders, is the current CEO. You can read about the company history on
SRAM's Wikipedia entry.
Campagnolo is a privately held company and was founded in 1933 by Tullio Campagnolo, who started making bike parts in his father's workshop in Vincenza, Italy. Tullio's son Valentino has been head of the company since Tullio's death in 1983.