The corporate drama inside Kadokawa's offices
has just given us an outcome worthy of a political thriller. During the annual
general meeting held on June 24, Takeshi Natsuno managed to
survive an intense impeachment attempt and will officially retain his coveted
positions as CEO and member of the company's board of directors after getting
the necessary votes in his favor.
All this tension did not come out of nowhere.
Over the past month, investment firm Oasis Management Company Ltd., which
currently holds the title of the company's largest shareholder with a 15.25%
stake, tried to convince other investors to throw Natsuno out on the street.
His main argument was the evident drop in the company's profitability since the
executive took the reins in 2021. However, Kadokawa's defense was categorical:
they publicly argued that decapitating the leadership without having a clear
successor or a restructuring plan at hand would be a suicidal move that would
only bring instability and slow down internal reforms.
To understand the weight of this decision in
the industry, you have to look at how the chips moved recently.
Oasis only snatched the top spot from Sony Group Corporation in
March of this year. Sony, which had been crowned the main shareholder in
January 2025 after forming an aggressive strategic alliance that gave it 10.04%
of the shares, had to settle for watching this war from the second seat of
command. Although technically there are other Korean and Japanese entities with
a higher percentage on paper, Kadokawa does not consider them majority shareholders
because they are merely fiduciary business operators.
With the company's largest shareholder
breathing down his neck and demanding immediate results.
