Satoshi "Sonny" Koike believes Japan's commercial laws are rigid and inhibitive. Instead of accepting the status quo, however, the 41-year-old entrepreneur has used loopholes in vaguely worded legal terms to stake a claim in the fast-changing world of the Internet.
Koike took advantage of one such loophole last year when he managed to split the shares of his firm, Netyear Group Corp., less than a year after its founding in July 1999 -- a rare practice in Japan.
A stock split increases the number of outstanding shares without changing the firm's aggregate market value. It is considered an effective way of stabilizing a firm's share price as the reduced purchase price of each share makes it more affordable to a broader base of investors.