Livedoor
Native name | 株式会社ライブドア |
---|---|
Formerly | Edge Co. |
Company type | Kabushiki gaisha |
Industry | Internet service |
Founder | Takafumi Horie |
Headquarters | Nishi-Shinjuku, Tokyo , Japan |
livedoor Co., Ltd. (株式会社ライブドア,
The
In 2022 Livedoor was sold to MINKABU THE INFONOID, Inc. ミンカブ・ジ・インフォノイド . In February of the same year, its founder Takafumi Horie became executive advisor to livedoor.
History
Origins and growth
Livedoor began in 1995 as Livin' on the Edge, a
In March 2004, during the
Livedoor acquisitions in the U.S. included MailCreations in Miami, Florida, in June 2004, which functioned as the company's U.S. headquarters. Livedoor entered search and contextual advertising spaces in America in November 2005.
A scandal involving securities law violations led the Tokyo Stock Exchange to delist Livedoor on April 14, 2006.[8][9]
Allegations
The case broke on January 16, 2006, when Tokyo
On January 18, 2006, Hideaki Noguchi, an executive of H.S. Securities, a firm raided by prosecutors earlier in the week in connection with Livedoor, was found dead in an
The authorities called in several Livedoor and subsidiary executives for questioning over several days, and Horie himself on January 23. After several hours of questioning Horie, investigators felt they had learned enough to press charges and petitioned for four arrest warrants, which were granted. Horie, Livedoor's chief financial officer, and the presidents of two subsidiaries were arrested mid-evening for securities and accounting fraud.[11] They were held for two months without bail, and during this time, Livedoor's temporary Representative Director Fumito Kumagai was also arrested.[12]
Japan's Securities Commission filed a criminal complaint against the five arrested ex-executives of the company on March 13, 2006. Founder Horie was sentenced to 2.5 years in jail on March 16, 2007. Others were given various jail sentences four days later but appealed.[13]
Aftermath
After losing 90% of its stock price in four months and strong evidence of securities fraud, Livedoor was delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange on April 14, 2006.[14]
Fuji Television sued the company for ¥35 billion in damages in March 2007;[15] 1,000 individual investors filed a class-action suit in May 2006, eventually rising to 3,340 asking for ¥23 billion, which resulted in a final ruling of ¥7.6 billion against Livedoor,[16] and other similar suits resulted at least one judgment of ¥4.9 billion.[17] Livedoor in turn sued its own executives, with founder Horie settling for ¥21 billion and six others settling for a total of ¥760 million.[18]
Information obtained during the investigation led to the arrest and conviction of fund manager Yoshiaki Murakami for using inside information to profit off of a stake Livedoor purchased in Nippon Broadcasting System in 2005.[19]
Horie published an autobiography during his appeals, Complete Resistance, in which he proclaims his innocence and states that he was being targeted only due to his infamy, not the actual nature or severity of any crimes.[20]
The veracity of the suspicions aside, many smelled conspiracy given the timing of the action. It was seen as a political move by defenders of the status quo to punish Horie for daring to challenge them, and to discredit him and the business practices he had come to represent, which Horie's opponents considered distasteful and "un-Japanese."[21]
In order to prevent a recurrence of the scandal, Japan passed a law similar to
Livedoor Holdings
In 2007, the company spun off to create a new subsidiary that retained the name of "Livedoor" and most of its portal-related businesses and itself became a pure holding company named "Livedoor Holdings" that oversaw the legal and financial management of its subsidiaries (reportedly 44 subsidiaries as of the end of 2005[22]) including the new Livedoor. In 2008, Livedoor Holdings changed its name to "LDH Corporation."[23]
Sale
During the upheaval in 2006 and 2007 rumors spread that Livedoor was preparing a $2 billion initial public offering in 2008. Several technology companies expressed interest in participating but the IPO never materialized. Livedoor instead put itself up for sale. In early 2010
Liquidation
After completing the sale of Livedoor and other subsidiaries and paying dividends to its shareholders, LDH Corporation entered into voluntary liquidation by the shareholders' resolution in August 2011 and completed liquidation in December 2012 after distributing residual assets to its shareholders.
Offices
The headquarters of the original Livedoor company were located in the
See also
- Accounting scandals
- Line
References
- Asahi Shimbun. 12 April 2006. Archived from the originalon 22 April 2006. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
- ^ a b "S.Korea's NHN buys Japanese Internet provider Livedoor". The Independent. London. 2010-04-13. Archived from the original on June 2, 2012. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
- ^ a b Matt Brian (6 February 2013). "NHN Japan Spins Off LINE, Targets International Expansion". The Next Web. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
- ^ "livedoor". Archived from the original on 23 February 2007. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
- ^ "livedoor". Archived from the original on 23 February 2007. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
- ^ "livedoor". Archived from the original on 27 November 2006. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
- ^ "livedoor". Archived from the original on 23 October 2006. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
- ^ [1] Archived April 22, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Welcome to nginx!". Archived from the original on August 15, 2007. Retrieved April 14, 2006.
- Asahi Shimbun. 20 January 2006. Archived from the originalon 26 April 2006. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
- ^ "Livedoor chief Horie, three executives arrested". Financial Times. 2006. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
- ^ "Livedoor's new boss arrested". The Japan Times. 2006. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
- ^ "Livedoor accountant first to do real time for fraud". The Japan Times. 2007. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
- ^ "Livedoor stockholders to sue for compensation". The Japan Times. 2006. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
- ^ "Fuji TV files suit against Livedoor". The Japan Times. 2007. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
- ^ "Shareholders win suit for Livedoor damages". The Japan Times. 2009. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
- ^ "Livedoor to pay shareholders ¥4.9 billion". The Japan Times. 2009. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
- ^ "Livedoor damages lawsuit settled". The Japan Times. 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
- ^ "Murakami given two-year sentence". The Japan Times. 2007. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
- ^ "Horie says he, Okubo both were railroaded". The Japan Times. 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
- ^ Nakamoto, Michiyo; Pilling, David (January 16, 2006). "Japanese lawmen head for the Hills". Financial Times.
- ^ "UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies :: JAPAN: Livedoor may sell stake to investors to raise capital". 128.97.165.17. Archived from the original on 9 December 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
- ^ "LDH Corporation: Private Company Information - Businessweek". Businessweek.com. Archived from the original on December 27, 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
- ^ "会社概要 - 会社案内 - 株式会社ライブドア Archived 2011-12-04 at the Wayback Machine." Livedoor. Retrieved on December 14, 2011. "〒160-0023 東京都新宿区西新宿7-20-1 住友不動産西新宿ビル24F,25F(総合受付:24F)" - Map Archived 2012-04-15 at the Wayback Machine
External links
- (in Japanese) Official website