Takafumi Horie - Business Career

Business Career

In 2004, Horie tried to buy the Kintetsu Buffaloes baseball team. The team rejected the offer, but the incident put him in the national spotlight.

Horie was criticized by conservative business circles in Japan for his unconventional manner — everything from his informal attire to the practice of corporate expansion through hostile takeover. In a country where neckties are the norm for businessmen, he was frequently seen wearing t-shirts or unbuttoned collared shirts. While the media demonized him for his challenge of the status quo, it also capitalized on the entertainment he offered with his non-conformist attitude.

In 2005, Horie quietly bought a large number of shares in Fuji Television and attempted a hostile takeover. Since Japan had few laws governing defensive tactics by takeover targets, a compromise was arranged in which he was made a joint director of Fuji Television. Laws on M&A were hastily introduced thereafter in the country, modeled after on the regulations in the United States.

In 2005, at the 56th International Astronautical Congress in Fukuoka, Horie unveiled a plan for space tourism. The spacecraft he planned to develop was based on the design of a Russian TKS spacecraft. Horie said that 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."