Takei, Yasuo

▪ 2007

      Japanese businessman (b. Jan. 4, 1930, Fukaya, Japan—d. Aug. 10, 2006, Tokyo, Japan), was the founder in 1966 of the finance company Fuji Shoji (renamed Takefuji Corp. in 1974), which became one of the country's largest consumer lending corporations, but his reputation was stained when he was charged in 2003 with having orchestrated a wiretapping of a journalist who had written unfavourable articles about his company; he was convicted the following year. Though Takei, a billionaire, retired in 2003, it was rumoured that he continued to play an active role in the company, which was headed by his son, Taketeru.

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