How Jet Lag Factored Into This CEO's Downfall

A quest to ease jet lag has toppled one of Japan's most prominent CEOs. Takeshi Niinami, the high-profile CEO of Suntory Holdings—the force behind Jim Beam since 2014—resigned Tuesday after a police investigation tied to supplements that he was set to receive. The 66-year-old executive elaborated on the incident at a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday, explaining he believes in his innocence but "understand[s] why I had to resign." He explained he has relied on "100% legal" supplements that contain CBD to deal with symptoms of jet lag; the Wall Street Journal explains CBD products are legal in Japan so long as they contain no more than minuscule amounts of THC.

Bloomberg reports Niinami explained that he bought CBD products in the US because they were less expensive there than in Japan. An acquaintance was to send them to him, but they never got to him. Kyodo News reports police searched Niinami's house and other locations on Aug. 22 after receiving information from customs authorities regarding the import of a substance that was thought to be illegal in Japan. Niinami said no illegal drugs were discovered during the search, but the investigation was enough for Suntory's board to call his position untenable.

His departure strips Japan Inc. of a rare asset: a cosmopolitan executive as comfortable counseling prime ministers as he is analyzing trade wars. Reuters calls him "one of Japan's best-known business leaders" and "often the face of corporate Japan at Davos." Niinami challenged the status quo—pushing Japan to diversify beyond the US and stockpiling bourbon in Europe to brace for tariffs. Niinami was the first outsider to lead the family-founded Suntory, overseeing major moves like the $16 billion acquisition of Beam Inc. Bloomberg sees one element of his exit as rare as well:

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• "The public rebuttal by Niinami, who bowed deeply before and after the news conference, is a departure from the usual script followed by Japanese executives caught up in a scandal. After resigning and apologizing, they often disappear to lead quiet lives, shunned by the closed corporate community consisting mostly of men."