(Bloomberg) — Olympus Corp.’s chief executive officer resigned after the company investigated an allegation he purchased illegal drugs, cutting short his stint at the helm of a storied Japanese corporation.
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Stefan Kaufmann resigned all positions effective immediately, the company said in a statement. Chairman Yasuo Takeuchi will act as CEO in the interim. Olympus representatives declined to comment further on the case, citing an ongoing investigation.
Kaufmann is departing after less than two years at the helm, during which the company’s stock rose about 18%, underperforming the TOPIX market’s roughly 33% gain. On Monday, the shares slid as much as 4.5% in Tokyo, the biggest intraday slide in about a month.
The allegations surrounding Kaufmann, one of the few foreigners running a blue-chip Japanese company, remain unclear. The country has strict laws governing the use and import of drugs. In 2015, police arrested a Toyota Motor Corp. executive on suspicion she imported the pain medication oxycodone.
Olympus in August cut its full-year operating income forecast. The Japanese company, best known as a designer of cameras and imaging gear before a pivot into medical equipment such as endoscopes, has struggled with inconsistent growth in past years.
“Based on the results of the investigation, the Board of Directors unanimously determined that Mr. Stefan Kaufmann likely engaged in behaviors that were inconsistent with our Global Code of Conduct, Our Core Values, and our corporate culture,” the statement read. “As a result, Mr. Stefan Kaufmann was asked to offer his resignation, which he did and which was subsequently accepted by the Board of Directors.”
–With assistance from Natsuko Katsuki and Aya Wagatsuma.
(Updates with analyst’s comment and more details from the third paragraph.)
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