We took a look at his business background previously and now Japan Trends is reporting on a new move by Takafumi Horie, the former CEO of Livedoor who dropped out of Tokyo University and tried to take over one of the biggest media companies in Japan. That move?

Into literature.

As Japan Trends reports, the entrepreneurial minded Horie has released his first ever novel and with over 50,000 copies sold in the first two months it is proving to be a minor hit.

Horiemon (as he has become known) was part of a small but prominent group of business people in Japan who took on the old guard, battling the establishment with new business models and aggressive tactics. They had a good run, reported a few years of amazing results and lived the good life before it all came crashing down. Horie was arrested for a whole host of illegal business activities and became ostracized from Japanese business society which turned him into a complete pariah.

The title of the novel is Haikin, which translates as money worship, amazon.co.jp (via Google translate) describes it thus:

A young freeter named Fujita has a chance meeting with a mysterious old man. That meeting changes his entire life, inspiring him to go on and start a mobile gaming company – quickly building it into a multi-billion yen company. Before long, people are calling him the hero of the hills and Fujita is a darling of his time. This rise to the top however leaves Fujita facing questions over the nature of money, his friendships and status in life.

Not the most original of stuff (or the best translation), but as sales of his book are showing, there are still some in Japanese society who want to listen to what he has to say.

Photo credit: Sat666 / Wikimedia