Whether he lives or dives, the Horie myth is shattered

What a difference four months makes. Just 16 short weeks ago, every photo and television image of Takafumi Horie showed him beaming a confident, Cheshire cat grin. Today, he looks harried, tired and on the defensive. The smile may never be seen again, if, as some suspect, he is arrested for fraud in the widening Livedoor scandal.

Whatever the outcome of the investigation into allegations that losses at the small company the 33-year-old entrepreneur took over in November 2002 were concealed from investors, as well as irregularities in the takeover of a publishing firm in 2004, Mr Horie's all-important image is tainted.

'He was successful in taking advantage of mergers and acquisitions and stock spreads, and I think that at first people believed in him as a symbol of a powerful new generation of businesspeople in a new, confident Japan,' said Nobuyuki Nakahara, former member of the Policy Board at the Bank of Japan, pointedly discussing Mr Horie's achievements in the past tense.

'But now, those same people are very deeply disappointed as the truth has come out ... It's like the Enron scandal in the US. This is on that scale ... I expect Mr Horie will be arrested in February,' said Mr Nakahara, who retains close ties with the financial authorities.

If that prediction comes true, it will have been a roller-coaster ride for a man who refuses to wear the corporate uniform of suit and tie, and has been nicknamed 'Horiemon' for his resemblance to a cartoon cat with magical powers called Doraemon.

After dropping out of the prestigious Tokyo University, Mr Horie set up his first business in the booming internet sector at 23, and it was soon apparent that he had a knack for making money. By the time he was 30, he had earned Y10 billion ($673 million), and upset the traditionalists in business circles.

By listing his first company, appropriately named Livin' On The Edge, he was able to buy internet service provider Livedoor. Its umbrella now covers some 50 firms, ranging from an online travel agency to a used-car company.