The greater risk is continuing with the same leadership that oversaw the company's deterioration.
In the quiet corridors of corporate governance, a reckoning is taking shape for KADOKAWA, one of Japan's most storied media and gaming conglomerates. Oasis Management, holding nearly 14 percent of the company's shares, has called for the removal of CEO Takeshi Natsuno ahead of the June 24 annual shareholder meeting, pointing to five years of measurable financial decline as evidence that stewardship has failed the company's exceptional underlying assets. The confrontation raises a question that echoes across the broader landscape of institutional ownership: when a leader's own words set the standard for accountability, who bears the responsibility of holding them to it?
- KADOKAWA's earnings per share have collapsed 89% under Natsuno's tenure, with return on equity and operating margins both falling to fractions of their 2021 levels — a financial deterioration that Oasis calls systematic and inexcusable.
- The company missed even its own heavily revised 2025 profit guidance, compounding investor frustration and lending urgency to Oasis's demand for leadership change before the June 24 vote.
- Oasis argues that KADOKAWA is bleeding value from its crown jewel, FromSoftware, by ceding game publishing economics to third parties — a reversal of commitments the company made and even raised capital to fulfill.
- A newly unveiled mid-term management plan, which abandons the previous strategy a year early, has failed to convince Oasis, which sees vague targets and no credible accountability mechanisms as a continuation of the same governance failures.
- If shareholders vote against Natsuno's reappointment, Oasis envisions interim leadership and a global CEO search prioritizing IP monetization expertise — a path the firm argues carries far less risk than six more years under current management.
Oasis Management, a Hong Kong-based activist investor holding roughly 14 percent of KADOKAWA since 2020, is calling on shareholders to vote against the reappointment of CEO Takeshi Natsuno at the company's June 24 annual general meeting. The firm's case rests on five years of what it describes as systematic value destruction: earnings per share down 89 percent, return on equity fallen from 8.2 to 0.5 percent, and operating margins compressed from 6.5 to 2.9 percent. In late 2025, KADOKAWA slashed its profit guidance by more than a third — and then missed even those reduced targets.
Central to Oasis's critique is the handling of FromSoftware, the globally celebrated studio behind Elden Ring. Despite earlier commitments to self-publishing — backed by capital raised in 2022 — KADOKAWA under Natsuno continued ceding a significant share of gaming revenues to third-party partners, a reversal the firm says was never adequately explained. Oasis also condemns a "quantity over quality" publishing strategy that diluted the company's IP portfolio and weakened individual title economics, damage it argues cannot be reversed by belated acknowledgment alone.
KADOKAWA's board has responded with a new mid-term management plan, scrapping its previous five-year strategy a year ahead of schedule. Oasis is unimpressed, characterizing the new plan as vague and lacking concrete investment criteria, accountability mechanisms, or credible incentives. Asking shareholders to extend trust to the same leadership for another six years, the firm contends, is an unreasonable request.
Should Natsuno be removed, Oasis envisions the board appointing interim leadership while conducting a global search for a CEO with demonstrated expertise in IP monetization, operational discipline, and capital allocation. The firm has offered to introduce qualified candidates, though the final decision would rest with the board. For Oasis, the underlying argument is simple: KADOKAWA's assets are exceptional, its underperformance is not inevitable, and the June 24 vote is the moment shareholders must decide whether to demand better.
Oasis Management, a Hong Kong-based investment firm that has held roughly 14 percent of KADOKAWA since 2020, is demanding the removal of CEO Takeshi Natsuno ahead of the company's annual shareholder meeting on June 24. The activist push centers on five years of what Oasis characterizes as systematic value destruction under Natsuno's watch—a period during which the Japanese media and gaming conglomerate's earnings per share collapsed by 89 percent, return on equity plummeted from 8.2 percent to 0.5 percent, and operating margins shrank from 6.5 percent to 2.9 percent. In November 2025, KADOKAWA slashed its operating profit guidance by more than a third and net income guidance by 57 percent. Five months later, the company missed even those heavily revised targets.
Oasis is asking shareholders to vote against Natsuno's reappointment as a director and to support a separate shareholder proposal to dismiss him outright. The firm argues that accountability must begin with the person who steered the company through this deterioration. Natsuno himself, in a February 2023 statement, suggested that if the company's expansion efforts failed to deliver results, his resignation would "come into view." Oasis is holding him to that standard.
At the heart of Oasis's critique lies what it sees as catastrophic mismanagement of KADOKAWA's most valuable asset: FromSoftware, the globally renowned game studio behind blockbuster titles like Elden Ring. Oasis contends that KADOKAWA continues to cede a substantial share of the economics from these games to third-party publishing partners, bleeding value that should flow to shareholders. The company had previously committed to self-publishing under an earlier strategic plan and even raised capital in 2022 to fund that shift. Under Natsuno, that commitment was abandoned without clear explanation or a credible framework for how and when KADOKAWA would recapture more of the value its own studio generates.
The second major failure, in Oasis's view, centers on the Publication and IP Creation division. The company pursued what Oasis calls a misguided "quantity over quality" strategy that diluted management focus, weakened the economics of individual titles, and ultimately eroded the core business. KADOKAWA has belatedly acknowledged the mistake, but Oasis argues that five years of damage cannot be undone by belated recognition. The activist investor wants the company to narrow its publishing slate, deepen investment behind titles with genuine scalable potential, strengthen creator development, and accelerate digital and international distribution—all with clear, measurable key performance indicators that shareholders can track.
KADAKAWA's board recently unveiled a new mid-term management plan, abandoning the previous five-year strategy a year early because the company could not hit its targets. Oasis dismisses this as insufficient. The new plan, the firm argues, contains vague measures lacking concrete decision-making criteria, investment hurdles, accountability mechanisms, or credible incentives. Asking shareholders to trust the same leadership that failed to execute the last plan for another six years, Oasis contends, is asking too much.
The company has raised concerns about disruption if Natsuno is removed, arguing that continuity and management stability would suffer. Oasis counters that the risk is manageable. KADOKAWA's day-to-day operations are run by talented employees across its business units who would remain in place. The company is already in a period of strategic transition. The greater risk, Oasis argues, is continuing with leadership that oversaw the company's deterioration and is now asking for another six years to fix it.
If Natsuno is not reappointed, Oasis envisions the board appointing interim leadership while a formal global search begins for a CEO with expertise in nurturing, globalizing, and monetizing intellectual property. The ideal candidate would have a proven track record in global IP monetization, operational discipline, sound capital allocation, and strong governance. Oasis has indicated it is prepared to introduce qualified candidates to the board, though the final decision rests with KADOKAWA's directors.
The June 24 vote will determine whether KADOKAWA's shareholders side with the activist investor or stand behind current management. For Oasis, the case is straightforward: KADOKAWA owns exceptional IP assets that remain significantly underutilized, and the company has the potential to generate substantially higher profitability under different leadership. The question now is whether other shareholders agree.
Citações Notáveis
If business expansion failed to deliver results, his resignation would come into view.— CEO Takeshi Natsuno, February 2023 statement cited by Oasis
Shareholders should not accept another promise of future reform from the same leadership that has a demonstrated track record of failing in both strategic thinking and execution.— Oasis Management, on KADOKAWA's new mid-term plan
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why did Oasis wait until now to push for Natsuno's removal? The firm has been a shareholder since 2020.
They didn't wait passively. Oasis has been engaging with management and the board for six years—meetings, letters, formal discussions. But at some point, engagement without results becomes enabling. The numbers finally became undeniable: 89 percent EPS decline, margins cut in half, a company that abandoned its own strategic plan because it couldn't execute it.
The board will argue that removing a CEO mid-strategy creates chaos. How do you answer that?
The chaos already happened. KADOKAWA is in the middle of strategic transition anyway—they just scrapped their five-year plan. The real question is whether you want the person who created the mess to lead you out of it, or whether you want someone with a track record of actually building and scaling IP globally.
FromSoftware is the crown jewel, but Oasis isn't demanding a sale. What exactly do they want?
They want the studio managed with the ambition it deserves. Right now, KADOKAWA is leaving money on the table by letting third-party publishers capture economics from games like Elden Ring. The company committed to self-publishing, raised capital to do it, then quietly retreated under Natsuno without explaining why or when they'd try again.
Is this really about Natsuno, or is it about the board failing to oversee him?
Both. But you have to start somewhere. The CEO sets the tone and makes the calls. Accountability has to begin at the top. That said, Oasis is also clear that the company needs broader improvements in governance, capital allocation, and board oversight—but you can't fix those things with the same person who created the problem still in charge.
What happens if shareholders vote Natsuno out? Does Oasis have a replacement ready?
No. Oasis has connections to executive search firms and says it can introduce candidates, but the board makes the final call. What Oasis is really saying is: we need someone who understands global IP monetization, has operational discipline, and can restore trust with creators, employees, and partners. That's a different profile than what KADOKAWA has now.
The new mid-term plan lowers targets and pushes meaningful goals to 2032. Doesn't that suggest management is being realistic?
Or it suggests they're giving up. Oasis sees it as a retreat without accountability. The plan is vague on how decisions will actually be made, what the investment hurdles are, and how performance will be measured. It's asking shareholders for faith after five years of broken promises.