Founder Profile
Kunihiko Iwadare
Last reviewed: October 2026 · By Swet Parvadiya
Who is Kunihiko Iwadare?
Kunihiko Iwadare is a founder of NEC Corporation, which was founded in 1899.
- Company founded
- NEC Corporation
- Founded
- 1899
Background
Japanese electrical engineer.
Founding Story
Kunihiko Iwadare founded NEC (Nippon Electric Company) in 1899. After working for Thomas Edison in New York, he returned to Japan and formed a highly strategic joint venture with Western Electric, creating Japan's very first joint venture with foreign capital. He successfully built NEC into the absolute primary supplier of telecommunications equipment for the Japanese government.
Kunihiko Iwadare was born in 1857.
Iwadare was born on August 15, 1857 and died on December 20, 1941. A graduate of the Imperial College of Engineering in Tokyo, he worked as a telegraph engineer for the Japanese government.