Universal Entertainment Corp’s controlling shareholder, Tomohiro Okada, has been appointed as the company’s new Representative Director and President, replacing the recently departed Jun Fujimoto.
The appointment of Tomohiro, who holds a 53.27% stake in Universal’s parent company Okada Holdings Ltd, was confirmed shortly after the election of Okada as a new director of the company was officially approved at an Extraordinary General Shareholders’ Meeting on Thursday. His mother, Takako Okada, was also appointed as a Representative Director.
Hajime Tokuda, who temporarily filled the role of Representative Director and President after Fujimoto stepped aside recently, has been redesignated as Director and Vice President.
The reshuffle is related to a finding by the Tokyo High Court in April that Fujimoto – who replaced company founder Kazuo Okada as Universal’s main man in 2017 – had 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 recently stepped down from his active roles and from the Board of Directors, while Universal has stated it may pursue damages equivalent to the full amount of almost US$43.5 million.
The group’s leadership has proven a messy affair in recent years, with Fujimoto himself instrumental in the removal of Kazuo Okada before he displaced him as head of the company in 2017.
Both Fujimoto and Okada were also the targets of a lawsuit from shareholder Tsuyoshi Hosoba in 2015, which alleged they and other Universal directors at the time had breached their fiduciary duties on various matters, including US$40 million in payments from affiliates of Universal to a Philippine consultant working on the Okada Manila integrated resort project.
Universal controls Okada Manila via its Philippines subsidiary Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc.
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