Niinami Resigns as Suntory CEO

The Suntory Holdings announced on September 2nd that its Chairman and CEO, Takeshi Niinami, resigned with suspicion of possessing illegal drug in his house. Although Niinami insisted that the supplement he purchased was not illegal drug, he accepted the recommendation of Suntory to leave his position. He also makes a pause in his activities as the chairman of Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai). One of the vocal business leaders in Japan abruptly disappeared from center stage.

Having been in charge of business project for a convenience store chain, Lawson, as working for Mitsubishi Corporation, Niinami assumed CEO of Lawson in 2002. He transferred to the president of whisky maker, Suntory, in 2014, promoting international business including an acquaintance of a distiller of bourbon in the United States, James B. Beam. Niinami took the seat of chairman of Doyukai in 2023.

 

The president of Suntory, Nobuhiro Torii, argued that Niinami would not be eligible for the chairman of Suntory, which deals with sales of supplements for health care. Ther police raided Niinami’s house in Tokyo on August 22nd. Appraising Niinami’s capability in business management with boldness, proper decision and execution, Torii regretted resignation of Niinami.

 

Niinami explained in his press conference that he had an acquaintance with a female massager in New York who recommended him to take cannabidiol (CBD) to maintain his health. While Niinami bought supplement of CBD, which he believed as legal, from her, an illegal ingredient called tetrahydrocannabinol (THD) was included in the product that the massager sent to Niinami from New York to Tokyo.

 

The police discovered that drug. Possession of illegal drug violates a law in Japan. The police made a search in Niinami’s house, but found no illegal drug. A urinate test on Niinami showed negative response. Niinami revealed that the police made the search for two and half hours and recorded the interview to him on six pages of paper. After the raid, Niinami consulted about the suspicion on him and decided to submit his resignation to the board of Suntory.

 

Niinami is known as a straightforward speaker among business leaders in Japan. In the case of sexual abuse by Johnny Kitagawa in 2023, Niinami accused Kitagawa of his activity as embarrassing to the world. On the governmental target of hourly 1,500 yen of minimum wage, Niinami dismissed unable managers as disqualified. He sent voices of business sectors to the government as a member of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy.

 

Niinami is one of the most successful businessmen in Japan who do not have outstanding family background. He supported survival of a chain of convenience stores in severe competitions or extended a family whisky business to the world. Niinami is a regular attendee of annual Davos Economic Forum where world leaders discuss global issues. He needed CBD to maintain his health in his heavy business schedule. Physical requirement put a period on bright career of a Japanese businessman.

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