One of Japan’s best-known business leaders and the head of Suntory Holdings has resigned after a police investigation into the purchase of supplements that may have violated the country’s strict drug laws.
Chairman and CEO Takeshi Niinami resigned before the conclusion of the investigation, the company said at a news conference on Tuesday. Suntory executives declined to specify the supplements in question. Japanese outlets have reported that the supplements allegedly contained THC, which is illegal in Japan. Niinami told Suntory he purchased the supplement believing it was legal, the company said.
Even though the legality had not yet been determined, “exercising appropriate caution in purchasing supplements is an indispensable quality,” the company wrote in a statement. Niinami’s actions demonstrated “a lack of awareness” that rendered him “unable to continue in the key position of representative director and chairman.”
Niinami was made chairman in March, after serving as CEO for more than a decade of the company that makes Jim Beam whisky, RTDs, beer and soft drinks. Suntory’s president, Nobuhiro Torii, a great-grandson of the company’s founder Shinjiro Torii, will now helm the group.
“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 graduate of Keio University in Japan and Harvard Business School, was the first Suntory leader from outside its founding family. He’s credited with guiding the company through the acquisition of Beam Inc., and helped transform Suntory into a global leader in spirits, whisky, and non-alcoholic beverages. He also served as an economic advisor to several prime ministers.
Japan’s zero-tolerance drug policy has ensnared other high-profile executives in career-altering investigations. Late last year, former CEO Stefan Kaufmann resigned from Japanese optical equipment manufacturer Olympus Corp after an allegation that he had purchased illegal drugs. In 2015, police arrested a top Toyota executive on suspicion of illegally importing a painkiller into the country.