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is a Japanese entrepreneur who founded livedoor, a 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 is currently free on bail and awaiting trial.
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. The nickname derives from the cartoon character Doraemon who Horie is said to resemble.
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
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*. 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 and life styles.
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 private space 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 fraudand 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 historyNikkei index lost 465 points, its largest drop in nearly two years; the ramifications were felt in other markets around the world, especially in Asia[http://news.ft.com/cms/s/9da0c9e0-8772-11da-8762-0000779e2340.html" target="_blank" >*.
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."*
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. *
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1972 births | Living people | People from Fukuoka Prefecture | Japanese entrepreneurs | Space tourism | Entrepreneurs | Japanese entrepreneurs
Horie Takafumi | Takafumi Horie | Takafumi Horie | 堀江貴文 | 堀江贵文
"Takafumi Horie"