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There are not many Spanish multinationals created in the second half of the twentieth century whose innovation and global leadership have close connections with Japanese foreign direct investment (FDI) or knowledge transfer. This article is a contribution to the scarce literature on Japanese FDI in Southern Europe after the 1960s. It examines the creation and the first decades of activity of Acerinox, a joint venture created in 1970 between a Spanish bank (Banesto) and two Japanese corporations (Nisshin Steel and Nissho Iwai). It analyzes the rationale and dynamics that led to innovation and success in this joint venture through the “Linkage, Leverage, Learning” model of John A. Mathews. According to Mathews’ model, a company born global in an emerging economy can quickly be a global leader if the firm’s activity focuses on a sector with rapidly growing demand and if there is, from the start, a close partnership and transfer of scarce strategic resources from a global leader.