[TOKYO] Suntory Holdings CEO Takeshi Niinami, one of Japan’s best-known business leaders, has resigned from the beverage group following a police investigation into his purchase of a supplement that may have breached the country’s strict drug laws.
Niinami, who has served as an adviser to several Japanese prime ministers and was often the face of corporate Japan at Davos and other international events, told Suntory he purchased the supplement believing it was legal, the company said on Tuesday (Sep 2).
“I was not aware that it was an illegal supplement. I am innocent,” he told the Asahi newspaper in a report published Tuesday evening. He added that he felt the company would be unable to unite if he did not resign. Reuters was not able to immediately reach Niinami for comment.
Suntory’s president, Nobuhiro Torii, a great-grandson of the company’s founder Shinjiro Torii, told a press briefing that he would now be fully helming the company.
“He was a bold, decisive leader who got things done and I truly respected him,” Torii said of Niinami. “In that respect – and I told this to him yesterday as well – it’s a real shame that we couldn’t continue as a team.”
Niinami, a fluent English speaker, is chairman of the influential Keizai Doyukai business lobby. He said he had no intention of resigning from that role, according to the Asahi report. Keizai Doyukai officials were not immediately available for comment.
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He is scheduled to hold his regular press conference for the business lobby on Wednesday afternoon, where he is expected to explain the details behind his resignation.
Known for being outspoken, Niinami frequently voiced opinions on how Japan’s economy should be managed and how the central bank should act.
The Tokyo Shimbun daily reported that police in Fukuoka prefecture were investigating whether supplements containing cannabis components had been sent to Niinami’s home – a probe that is connected to a man who was arrested in July.
Other Japanese media said the supplements allegedly contained THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis, which is illegal in Japan. CBD, a separate chemical compound from the cannabis plant, however, is legal, and products containing it are available in Japan.
Suntory, which makes whisky, beer and soft drinks such as Orangina-branded soda, said Niinami told the company on August 22 that he was the subject of a police investigation. He resigned on September 1.
Niinami, 66, significantly expanded Suntory’s revenue and profits, joining the drinks maker as president in 2014 shortly after it purchased US spirits company Beam for US$16 billion, including debt.
According to Tokyo Shimbun, police questioned Niinami and searched his Tokyo home, but no illegal drug possession or use has been confirmed. A Fukuoka Police official was not immediately available to comment on the reports.
A graduate of Harvard Business School, Niinami was previously chief executive of convenience store operator Lawson before becoming Suntory’s boss, the first head of the firm from outside its founding family.
Japan has strict drug laws. Late last year, Japanese endoscope manufacturer Olympus sacked then-CEO Stefan Kaufmann, a German national, after an allegation that he had purchased illegal drugs.
In 2015, police arrested Toyota Motor executive Julie Hamp, an American, on suspicion of illegally importing the painkiller oxycodone into the country. She was later released.
Suntory is not publicly traded but shares in a listed unit, Suntory Beverage & Food, which manages its non-alcoholic beverages and food products business, were not overly affected, ending Tuesday up 3 per cent. REUTERS
