Takafumi Horie is out as head of Livedoor Co.

At a news conference Tuesday night, officials of the Internet firm said Kozo Hiramatsu, 60, a former Sony executive who previously was head of a Livedoor subsidiary, had become president and director Fumito Kumagai, 28, had become representative director.

In a related move, Fuji Television Network Inc. said it is now free to sell its 133.74 million shares of Livedoor because Horie's resignation has voided its agreement not to sell them without the company's consent until September 2007.