Monday's arrest of Takafumi Horie, the 33-year-old founder of Internet services firm Livedoor Co., left the public wondering how he rose to fame so fast and what his impact on society, especially the young generation, will be.
Nicknamed "Horiemon" after the chubby cartoon robot cat hero Doraemon, Horie has been in the news ever since he came forward to try to rescue the debt-laden Kintetsu Buffaloes baseball team in June 2004.
Horie was no longer Livedoor president as of Tuesday evening. He was replaced by Kozo Hiramatsu, 60, the president of Yayoi Co., a Livedoor subsidiary that makes accounting software.
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