Takafumi Horie

nihongo|Takafumi Horie|堀江 貴文|Horie Takafumi|extra=born October 29, 1972 is a Japanese entrepreneur who founded livedoor, a website-design operation that grew into an internet portal involved in a wide range of businesses. After being arrested on accusations of securities fraud in 2006, he severed all connections with his company. He was granted bail and his trial began September 4, 2006. On March 16, 2007, Horie was sentenced to a 2 years and 6 months imprisonment.

He is popularly known as Horiemon, a name also given—and chosen by popular demand via voting on a Livedoor website—to a racehorse he owns.

Early life

Horie was born in Yame, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, and was raised in an unexceptional household by a "salaryman" father and mother from a farming family.

He started college as a student in the Department of Literature at the University of Tokyo and was going to major in religion, but dropped out after establishing a website-development company called Livin' on the Edge in 1995 with friends and classmates.

Business career

In 2004, Horie tried to buy a Japanese baseball team Kintetsu Buffaloes. He was rejected by the team, but he became famous. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/18/business/worldbusiness/18cnd-tycoon.html A College Dropout Turned Internet Tycoon - New York Times ] ]

Horie is criticized by conservative Japanese business circles for his unconventional methods—everything from his practice of corporate expansion through acquisitions to his informal attire [cite news |last=McNicol |first=Tony |url=http://www.japanmediareview.com/japan/stories/050324mcnicol/ |title=Young Entrepreneur Challenges Japan's Media Barons |publisher=Japan Media Review |date=2005-03-26 |accessdate=2007-03-03] . In a country where neckties are the norm for businessmen, he is frequently seen wearing t-shirts or unbuttoned collared shirts. In these circumstances, the media have taken to demonizing him on the one hand because of his challenges to the status quo, while on the other trying to capitalize on the entertainment value he offers with his non-conformist business attitude and life style.

In 2005, Horie quietly bought a large number of shares in Fuji Television and attempted a hostile takeover. Since Japan has few laws governing defensive procedures for takeover targets, a compromise was arranged in which he was made a joint director of Fuji Television, and Japan has since hastily introduced M&A laws based on those of the United States.

In 2005, Horie unveiled a plan for a space tourism business at the 56th International Astronautical Congress in Fukuoka. The spacecraft he planned to develop was based on the design of a Russian TKS spacecraft. Horie said he planned to invest in space development and that he wanted to launch a manned rocket within five years; the project was called "Japan Space Dream — A Takafumi Horie Project."

Political campaign in 2005

Horie announced on August 19, 2005 that he would run in the snap 2005 general election as an independent in the Hiroshima sixth district. He contemplated running as an official LDP candidate against LDP rebel Shizuka Kamei, but chose instead to run as an independent while keeping the support of the LDP leadership. He lost the election and returned to Tokyo to continue his entrepreneurial career; Kamei won the election in a rather close vote of 110,979 to 84,433.

Investigation for securities fraud

On January 18, 2006, Japanese prosecutors raided the offices of Livedoor and Horie's home on suspicion of securities fraud [cite news |last=Nakamoto |first=Michiyo |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/27760454-86b1-11da-8521-0000779e2340.html |title=Parvenu who exasperated the old guard |publisher=Financial Times |date=2006-01-16 |accessdate=2007-03-03] and money laundering. Livedoor's share price fell 14.4 percent in one day, with sell orders so numerous that trading volume prompted the Tokyo Stock Exchange to close 20 minutes early for the first time in its history [cite news |last=Turner |first=David |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/cc5e70b0-87cd-11da-8762-0000779e2340.html |title=Tokyo halts trading as system overloaded |publisher=Financial Times |date=2006-01-18 |accessdate=2007-03-03] . The Nikkei index lost 465 points, its largest drop in nearly two years; the ramifications were felt in other markets around the world, especially in Asia [cite news |last=Nakamoto |first=Michiyo |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/9da0c9e0-8772-11da-8762-0000779e2340.html |title=Livedoor probe sparks TSE fall |publisher=Financial Times |date=2006-01-18 |accessdate=2007-03-03] .

The veracity of the suspicions aside, given the timing and many recent events, many smelled conspiracy and saw the action as a political move by defenders of the status quo to punish Horie for daring to take them on, as well as to discredit him and the business practices he has come to represent, which Horie's opponents consider distasteful and "un-Japanese." [ [http://news.ft.com/cms/s/100b7138-86b0-11da-8521-0000779e2340.html FT.com / Companies / Media & internet - Japanese lawmen head for the Hills ] ]

On January 23, 2006, Horie was arrested by Tokyo district public prosecutors, and on January 24 he announced his resignation as CEO. On April 27, 2006, he was released on ¥300 million bail on condition that he refrain from contact with livedoor or any of its employees. Horie says he does not intend to get involved in the company's management at present or in the future. Though indicted on charges of fabricating financial reports and spreading false information to investors, he continues to assert his innocence.

Horie's net worth is estimated to have fallen from $1.3 billion in December 2005 to $280 million in June 2006. [cite news |last= |first= |url= |title=Softbank's Son Tops Forbes List of Japan's 40 Richest People |publisher=Bloomberg |date=2006-06-09 |accessdate=2007-03-03]

Horie's trial for securities fraud began on September 4, 2006. Prosecutors sought a 4 year prison sentence for Horie, who has pleaded not guilty.

On March 16, 2007, Horie was found guilty of falsifying the company's accounts and misleading investors [cite news |last=|first=|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6456907.stm|title=Livedoor tycoon guilty of fraud |publisher=BBC News |date=2007-03-16 |accessdate=2007-03-16] and was sentenced to a 2 years and 6 months imprisonment. [ [http://www.nikkei.co.jp/news/main/20070316AT1G1502U16032007.html 堀江被告に懲役2年６月の実刑判決・東京地裁] jp icon - Nihon Keizai Shimbun] [ [http://www3.nhk.or.jp/knews/news/2007/03/16/t20070316000057.html 堀江元社長に懲役２年６か月] jp icon - NHK]

ee also

*Yoshiaki Murakami

References

External links

* [http://j-sd.jp Japan Space Dream]
* [http://www.takafumi-horie.com Horie Blog]