After underperforming in high school, Murakami went to a college of art not to start a career but because he thought it was his only option. And yet he moved on to graduate school and then did a pivotal stint in New York, where he developed the East-meets-West, high-meets-low aesthetic that would make him famous. A darling of the critics who has collaborated with the likes of LVMH, Kanye West, and the Museum of Modern Art, he produces and promotes artwork through his company, Kaikai Kiki.
A version of this article appeared in the March–April 2021 issue of Harvard Business Review.