Tamron CEO Resigns Amid Investigation into His Use of Company Funds for Personal Gain

Tamron has announced that its President and CEO, Shiro Ajisaka, has resigned. Mr. Ajisaka is currently under investigation for allegedly using company funds for personal gain.

In a machine-translated Japanese news release first reported by AsobiNet, Tamron explains that on July 9, 2023, Mr. Ajisaka took a third-party woman on a business trip and claimed personal expenses as company expenses.

A whistleblower initially revealed this violation through Tamron’s external whistleblowing system.

During an audit of the allegations performed by directors and investigators, both internal and external to Tamron, it was discovered that Mr. Ajisaka had been eating and drinking with this third-party woman several times per month for at least the past five years at Tamron’s expense.

As a result of the investigation, Mr. Ajisaka has resigned as Tamron’s President and CEO. Ajisaka originally joined Tamron in 2008 and prior to his role as President and CEO, acted as Tamron’s Senior Executive Officer and Corporate Vice President.

Taking Ajisaka’s place is Shogo Sakuraba, who was previously Executive Vice President of Tamron. Tamron’s corporate website has been updated to reflect this change.

Alongside its new corporate arrangement, Tamron has announced that despite Mr. Ajisaka’s resignation, the company will conduct a thorough fact-finding mission concerning its former CEO’s misconduct.

Tamron says that it will fully cooperate with the investigation and assures that if any matters of relevance are uncovered during the investigation, they will be disclosed to the public.

Tamron’s new CEO, Shogo Sakuraba, joined Tamron in 1981. He was promoted to an executive position, General Manager of Optical Development, in 2005. After additional promotions in 2008 and 2014, Mr. Sakuraba was named Executive Vice President in 2016.

It is unclear if there will be additional fallout and corporate shakeup at Tamron due to Mr. Ajisaka’s actions. The investigation may uncover further misconduct on the part of whoever was responsible for handling reported expenses.

At least one publication claims that another executive had been fired due to their involvement with Mr. Ajisaka’s conduct, but that reported individual remains listed on Tamron’s list of executives.

This is a significant blow to Tamron’s corporate image, although the news has no appreciable impact on Tamron’s stock value in Japan, which has significantly increased in the past year.