Kadokawa CEO’s support falls to 60% at AGM after activist campaign
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Kadokawa is displayed at the company’s office in Tokyo, Japan, June 23, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. REUTERS/Miho Uranaka/File Photo
Read a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST
Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
TOKYO, June 25 : Kadokawa’s CEO Takeshi Natsuno suffered a sharp drop in shareholder support at the Japanese anime and gaming giant’s annual general meeting after an activist campaign to unseat him.
While he retained his board seat at Wednesday’s AGM, shareholders voted only 59.68 per cent in favour of his re-election, compared with 90 per cent last year, the company said on Thursday.
Activists are increasingly seeking to eject top executives in Japan as they bet shareholders will vote to express their frustrations with corporate underperformance.
Hong Kong-based Oasis Management has been pushing for Natsuno to be replaced, citing falling profitability during his tenure, with proxy advisers also recommending shareholders oppose his re-election.
Guess Word
Crack the word, one row at a time
Buzzword
Create words using the given letters
Mini Sudoku
Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser
Mini Crossword
Small grid, big challenge
Word Search
Spot as many words as you can
The chairman of Japanese electronics manufacturer Kyocera was re-elected on Thursday after a separate campaign by Oasis calling for his removal.
U.S.-based Kaname Capital also fell short in its campaign to remove the president of drugstore chain Cawachi. Oasis scored a win last year when the CEO of chemical firm Taiyo Holdings was removed from its board.
Kadokawa said after the AGM it would examine its management structure, executive compensation and progress of its medium-term business plan. Its board said earlier this month that removing Natsuno would create uncertainty, given the lack of a specific successor or alternative management plan.
“There’s strong impetus for Kadokawa to proactively make changes,” said analyst Travis Lundy, who publishes on Smartkarma.
Kadokawa has said its problems include its reliance on the isekai subgenre, where characters find themselves transported to a fantasy world, at its publishing business and rising costs for anime productions.
It reported a return on equity of 0.5 per cent last year compared with 9.4 per cent in the year ended March 2022. It has said it is targeting ROE of at least 12 per cent.
“Seeing what has happened at Kadokawa, other companies’ managers will be wary. The best defence against activists is a high stock price so they will do what they can to make their shares more expensive,” said Lundy.
Source: Reuters
Sign up for our newsletters
Get the CNA app
Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories
Get WhatsApp alerts
Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST
Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
About The Author
