[/floatl]Mainichi: Rakuten rebuts magazine story on probe on President Mikitani
Major Internet shopping mall operator Rakuten Inc. on Thursday rebutted a magazine story that its president, Hiroshi Mikitani, is under police investigation. According to the article carried in the latest edition of the weekly magazine, Shukan Shincho, the Metropolitan Police Department of Tokyo is investigating alleged insider trading and illicit payoff involving Mikitani. The latest Shukan Shincho edition was published Thursday. Rakuten said in a statement that the story is not based on truth and significantly hurts the company''s credibility. It also urged the publisher of the magazine, Shinchosha, to retract the story and apologize. On the Jasdaq Securities Exchange Thursday morning, Rakuten stock tumbled 3,600 yen to 50,100 yen at one point after posting a limit daily loss of 5,000 yen the previous day.
