CEO of Japan’s Suntory, Takeshi Niinami, resigns after investigation into illegal supplements

Suntory Holdings CEO Takeshi Niinami, one of Japan’s best-known business leaders, has resigned from the beverage group following a police investigation into his purchase of a supplement that may have breached the country’s strict drug laws.

Niinami, who has served as an adviser to several Japanese prime ministers and was often the face of corporate Japan at Davos and other international events, told Suntory he purchased the supplement believing it was legal, the company said on Tuesday.

The Tokyo Shimbun daily reported that police in Fukuoka prefecture are investigating whether supplements containing cannabis components had been sent to Niinami’s home — a probe that is connected to a man who was arrested in July.

Other Japanese media said the supplements allegedly contained THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis, which is illegal in Japan. CBD, a separate chemical compound from the cannabis plant, however, is legal, and products containing it are available in Japan.

Suntory, which makes whisky, beer and soft drinks such as Orangina-branded soda, said Niinami told the company he was the subject of a police investigation on August 22. He resigned on September 1.

Reuters was not able to immediately reach Niinami for comment.

Niinami, 66, significantly expanded Suntory’s revenue and profits, joining the drinks maker as president in 2014 shortly after it purchased U.S. spirits company Beam for $16 billion, including debt.

“He was a bold, decisive leader who got things done and I truly respected him,” Suntory President Nobuhiro Torii told a press briefing.

“In that respect — and I told this to him yesterday as well — it’s a real shame that we couldn’t continue as a team,” he said.

Torii, a former banker and great-grandson of Suntory founder Shinjiro Torii, said he would now be fully helming the company.

According to Tokyo Shimbun, police questioned Niinami and searched his Tokyo home, but no illegal drug possession or use has been confirmed.

A Fukuoka Police official was not immediately available to comment on the reports.

Niinami, a fluent English speaker, is chair of the powerful Keizai Doyukai business lobby. Known for being outspoken, he wasn’t hesitant to voice his opinion on how Japan’s economy should be managed or how the central bank should act.

Keizai Doyukai officials were not immediately available for comment.

A graduate of Harvard Business School, he was previously chief executive of convenience store operator Lawson before becoming Suntory’s president, the first head of the firm from outside its founding family.

Japan has strict drug laws. Late last year, Japanese endoscope manufacturer Olympus Corp sacked then-CEO Stefan Kaufmann after an allegation that he had purchased illegal drugs.

In 2015, police arrested Toyota Motor executive Julie Hamp, an American, on suspicion of illegally importing the painkiller oxycodone into the country. She was later released.

Suntory is not publicly traded but shares in a listed unit, Suntory Beverage & Food, which manages its non-alcoholic beverages and food products business, were not overly affected, ending Tuesday up 3%.

Additional reporting by Chang-Ran Kim, Kentaro Okasaka, Satoshi Sugiyama and Kathleen Benoza

—Anton Bridge and Mariko Katsumura, Reuters