Former Universal Entertainment Corp President Jun Fujimoto has stepped down as a director of the company ahead of an Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting at which shareholders were to vote on his dismissal from the company.
Universal revealed Friday that Fujimoto, who was found by the Tokyo High Court in April to have breached his fiducial duty, has tendered his resignation with the company subsequently withdrawing the matter from the schedule of items to be discussed.
Shareholders will still vote on the proposed appointment of Tomohiro Okada – the son of company founder Kazuo Okada and controlling shareholder of the group – as a director in Fujimoto’s place.
Tomohiro’s, whose father was dismissed from Universal in similar circumstances in 2017, holds a controlling 53.27% stake in Universal’s parent Okada Holdings Ltd with Kazuo Okada holding the majority of the rest. The two fell out long before Kazuo’s 2017 ouster.
In an earlier filing, Universal had stated that it wanted to appoint Tomohiro to the Board of Directors “in order to further strengthen the company’s business activities in Japan and overseas.”
It also stated it was appropriate to dismiss Fujimoto as a director “to ensure thorough compliance and maintain a sound governance of the company.”
Fujimoto was found by the Tokyo High Court to have breached his fiducial duty or duty of loyalty as a director of the company by causing it to transfer US$43,497,204 to an external source without reasonable necessity and without following internal decision-making procedures. He had already stepped down from his active roles while Universal has stated it may pursue damages equivalent to the full amount of almost US$43.5 million.
Universal, a long-time leader in the development of pachinko and pachislot machines, also controls Philippine integrated resort Okada Manila via its local subsidiary Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc.
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