Ex-Yahoo Japan Pres. Inoue Dies in U.S. Traffic Accident

Tokyo, April 29 (Jiji Press)--Masahiro Inoue, former president of major Internet portal Yahoo Japan Corp.

, died in a traffic accident in California on Tuesday, it was learned Saturday. He was 60. A Tokyo native, Inoue served as Yahoo Japan president for 16 years after taking over the post from Softbank Group Corp.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son in July 1996. Inoue joined a predecessor company of Softbank Group in 1992 and was appointed manager of the secretariat office under Son in 1994. He became a board member of Yahoo Japan when it was established in January 1996 as a joint venture between the Softbank Group predecessor and Yahoo Inc. of the United States.Copyright JIJI PRESS LTD.