Case 39: Seibu Railway (Japan, 2004)

• Prof. Dr. Klaus Henselmann
• Dr. Stefan Hofmann

Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, the former chairman of Seibu Railway, was once ranked as the world’s wealthiest individual by Forbes magazine. Inheriting a large property business from his father in the 1960s, he became one of Japan’s most powerful industrialists. After decades of investment outside his core business, he owned commuter train lines as well as a premium hotel chain, a top baseball team (the “Seibu Lions”), a champion ice-hockey team and a series of high-ticket golf courses, ski resorts and amusement parks. As a close friend of the former president of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, Mr. Tsutsumi was credited as being the man who single-handedly brought the Winter Olympic Games to Nagano in 1998 (which was also a boon for his ski resorts in the area). For leading the campaign of the city of Nagano to be host of the Olympics, Tsutsumi was awarded the title of honorary chairman of the Japanese Olympic Committee. Eventually, Tsutsumi’s political influence in Japan was renowned. He forged ties with many MPs and was especially close to Junichiro Koizumi, the former prime minister.

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