All the duties of the successive Kichizaemon as president of the zaibatsu (main company) are the repository of trust in the head of the directors of the main Sumitomo company (Sumitomo Limited Partnership Corporation); therefore, the successive Kichizaemon did not give any specific orders to the individual businesses.
財閥本社社長たる歴代吉左衛門の仕事は、究極的には財閥の事実上の最高権力者である住友本社（住友合資会社）総理事の信認に尽きるといってよく、個々の事業に口を差し挟む事はなかった。