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Internet service firm Livedoor allegedly took advantage of loopholes in securities trading laws to swell the amount of assets held by the firm and its President, Horie, who led the Livedoor group. Livedoor was established in April 1996 with 6 million yen (US$55,798.38) in capital. It made its stock market debut in April 2000, with a stock market value of 57.2 billion. Its market capitalisation surged to 830 billion yen (US$6.88 billion) as of December 2005, a 15-fold spike. Behind the steep jump in the corporate value were a series of highly tactical moves intended to boost the stock prices of the parent and group firms. Livedoor''s strategy essentially focused on how to attract speculative investment money from individual investors, largely ignoring institutional players. Livedoor''s operations turned out to be a kind of ''money game'' under the guise of efforts to challenge the establishment. Where did Livedoor deviate from the path of fair business, and what kind of illegality was involved in its activities? Shedding light on these questions should help both companies and investors make more constructive use of the securities and capital markets.