You may call this history repeating itself.  The flamboyant entrepreneur and the founder of Japanese Internet powerhouse Livedoor Mr. Takafumi Horie has more or less the same story as Bill except for a few twists.

Takafumi Horie was born October 29, 1972 in Yame, Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushu Island, Japan with humble beginnings.  He was to take up religion at the Department of Literature at Tokyo University but just like Bill, Horie dropped out of the university.  In 1996, Horie established a website development company called "On The Edge" with friends and classmates. 

In just a few years,  Horie was able to turn his company (renamed Livedoor) into a multi-billion dollar enterprise, with a staff of nearly two thousand.  Livedoor Co. Ltd. is an internet service provider headquartered in Shinjuku, Tokyo Japan providing networking, consulting, e-commerce,  VoIP calling plans, e-finance, securities trading and software development services. The company has grown into one of the most famous and successful Internet business company in Japan.  Despite his company's success, Horie has bigger plans.  One of which is to create an Internet portal bigger than Yahoo Japan through broadcast media and IT outlets. 

Horie became popular for being outspoken and for his unconventional methods.  He is seen wearing T-shirts or unbuttoned collared shirts as against the normal attire of Japanese businessmen who wear ties and suits.  He also drives a Ferrari.  Despite his aggressive and different style, Horie was able to gain support and was regarded by some young and old Japanese as the new-aged businessman.

Horie began his move to fulfill his dreams by doing some TV interviews.  Horie also bought some shares of Fuji Television and attempted a hostile takeover of the company which failed but he became a joint director of the company.  His next move was an attempt to buy the Kintetsu Buffaloes, a baseball team based in Osaka which also failed.  Horie then decided to try his luck in politics and ran as an independent candidate in Japan's parliamentary elections.  He lost the election and returned to Tokyo to continue his entrepreneurial career.  Horie also discussed a plan of his to invest and build a private space business called "Japan Space Dream - A Takafumi Horie Project".  He also announced a plan to produce his own CD music of his own band.

Horie's dream and objectives may or may not be realized, it will all depend upon his persistency and destiny perhaps.  But like any other story, it's not always a rose garden for everyone.  Challenges, problems and obstacles will surely come our way, it's just a matter of time.  How we handle it will determine if we have what it takes to become successful in life.

Horie's nightmare came sooner than he expected it.  The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office raided Livedoor headquarters in Tokyo and confiscated most of its workstations and servers, on suspicion that Livedoor may have manipulated its accounting to conceal millions of dollars in losses.  A former executive of the company informed the prosecutors that he had exchange emails with Horie and two other board members - Ryoji Miyauchi and Fumito Okamoto, and the conversation was about takeovers and other illegal practices.  Liverdoor is also suspected of transferring about 2.4 billion-yen in profits from three affiliates so that it could book a current account surplus of about 1.4 billion-yen for that year.

The next day, Horie apologizes over the raid and has denied any wrongdoing, and has committed that his company would cooperate with prosecutors in their investigation.  But despite the apology, denial and the assurance, the damage has been done.  When the news broke out, Livedoor shareholders started to unload their stocks that prompted the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) to shutdown 20 minutes earlier than normal.  TSE computer systems can only handle .5 million a day and sell orders had reached million.  The probe is one development Japan cannot afford now because their economy is just recovering.

If convicted, Horie and company could face up to five years in prison or a fine of not more than 5 million yen, not to mentioned that Livedoor may be delisted from TSE.  Of course, Horie is still presumed innocent until proven guilty.

This incident brings back the memories when we were still young.  Our parents, relatives and even teachers would ask us what do we want to become when we grow old.  Some would say "I want to become a lawyer", "a teacher", "a doctor", "a policeman" etc.  Horie must have the same experience like most of us, his dream is to become a great and successful entrepreneur.  And he did, at all cost.  The question now is if in case he is found guilty, will it be all worth it?  Hardwork and determination turned to shame.

There is nothing wrong in having a goal in life, actually it is encourage.  Goals can help us to be more focus, work hard to achieve that objective.  But we have to be ready as well to accept defeats and failures, as failures will help us become more persistent and work harder to achieve our ultimate goal and be successful in life. 

But what is success?  Do we equate success to fame and fortune?  If we do, then that success is superficial and temporary.  It will be a never-ending quest.  Once you earned your first thousand, you will aspire for a million, then millions, billions to trillions.  So when will it end?

To me, success is when you can sleep peacefully at night with the thought that you have done something good for society and fellow mankind.  After all, life on earth is just a test.  A test to our ultimate destination - an eternal life with God.

Am logging off.  Stay cool and God Bless us all!

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