Arrested Livedoor chief executive once praised as symbol of new Japan Inc.?? YAU MOU GAU...CHOR!

Arrested Livedoor chief executive once praised as symbol of new Japan Inc.
TOKYO: Livedoor Chief Executive Takafumi Horie appeared often on TV shows and grew into such a celebrity that the Tokyo complex where he lived and worked, "Roppongi Hills,'' became synonymous in Japan with glitzy swinging-singles glamour.
Horie's rags-to-riches story of building an empire around an Internet services company - valued at one point at more than 800 billion yen (US$6.9 billion; euro5.7 billion) from meager initial funds of 6 million yen (US$52,000;euro43,000) - was shattered Monday when he was arrested by prosecutors on charges of violating securities laws.
It was a stunning downfall.
In Japan, a nation known more for stodgy conformity than for flashy individuality, Horie, 33, had caught people's eye as a new breed of business leader.
Instead of dark suits, the unpretentious college dropout with spiky hair wore T-shirts and jeans. And he spoke with the Tokyo youngster's cocky and blunt vernacular, scoffing at traditional business practices.
He ran a widely read blog and won enthusiastic fans, including individual investors who snatched up Livedoor shares, when he tried to buy a baseball team two years ago and take over an establishment media conglomerate, Fuji Television Network, last year.
His company, which offers Internet services such as Web shopping, grew rapidly by buying up other firms, often through stock swaps.
Started in 1997, Livedoor Co. became a prominent, cutting-edge tech company. But prosecutors accuse Horie and three other Livedoor executives of spreading false information, including covering up losses at subsidiaries, to inflate stock prices in a scandal that has caused a week of turmoil in Japan's stock market.
The arrest culminated a weeklong investigation into Livedoor that began with a surprise raid on its Tokyo headquarters and Horie's home last Monday.
Horie's arrest was met with sympathy by some Japanese who said Horie was singled out for standing out too much.
But many felt that he had perhaps gone too far and gotten what he had deserved.
"In the end, money has to be won by working hard and doing your best,'' said Toshikazu Kuboi, a 21-year-old office worker in Tokyo.
"It just isn't right to make a lot of money by moving stocks around, in and out.''
In recent TV news, footage showed Horie childishly singing and shouting at a Livedoor party about his dream to raise his company's capital value.
Horie's fans spread to the mainstream when he ran for the lower house of parliament last September with backing from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's ruling party.
Horie put up a solid challenge to an established older politician, and crowds followed him everywhere he went.
Coming from a technology-savvy millionaire, his promises to deliver on economic reforms were convincing, although he ended up losing the race.
As an underdog who made a fortune, Horie charmed many Japanese people. He was lovingly nicknamed "Horiemon'' after the Japanese cartoon character Doraemon.
He was rumored to date fashion models and actresses.
"Within expectations,'' a phrase that Horie used often to brush off questions from the media, was chosen for the annual "most popular phrase'' last year.
But Horie was also a target of jealousy, and the nation's old guard made no secret of how they despised him.
He has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
"I have no recollection on any of the allegations. And I don't even know how to comment because I have no idea what kind of investigation the media reports are coming from. That's the situation,'' Horie wrote in his blog over the weekend. - AP
For Another perspective from The Daily Yomiuri, a partner of Asia News Network, click here

Latest business news from AP-Wire

This is copy from Livedoor CEO's BLOG, wrote by himself:
昨日夜遅くまで対策会議、およびメールチェック、仕事などを行っていたので、朝おきるのは遅かったのですが、なぜかテレビ朝日のサンデープロジェクトの人が、私の携帯電話番号をどこからか入手してきて、突然、10回以上もテレビに電話で生出演しろと（放送で告知しているからと）半ば脅迫めいた電話をかけてきました・・・・。マスコミって何でもありなんですね・・・。いちいち反論するのも困るくらい捏造記事も相変わらず多いですし・・・。疑いをかけられている（と明確にわかる強制捜査時の捜査令状、これはもらえないしコピーもとらせてもらえないので内容は100%覚えていませんが）件につきましては私は身に覚えがないですし、報道されている件は誰がどこでどう調べたのかもわからないような代物ですので、なんともコメントのしようがありません。現状はこんな状態です。

http://blog.livedoor.jp/takapon_ceo/

He has received 6400 comments until this morning. Everybody wondering what's he thinking and feeling now.

More news:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20060124a1.htm