It took Takei, 74, more than three decades to turn a lending operation aimed at cash-starved housewives into a $10 billion company that prides itself on its ethical standards in a sector rife with shady operators. It took just nine months for the business success story to unravel.
The problems started when Takei was arrested on charges of wire-tapping a journalist critical of his company, Takefuji Corp, on December 2. Takei had to step down as chairman and triggered a series of events that could rob him and his family of control of the company Takei built from scratch 40 years ago.
A horde of foreign firms has descended on Takei's firm to bid for a slice of the lucrative $96 billion consumer finance industry in the world's second-biggest economy.
US private equity firm Newbridge Capital is set to buy a 33 percent stake for up to 400 billion yen from the founding family by the end of the year, media have reported. New York-based buyout firm Ripplewood Holdings and top banks HSBC Plc and Citigroup have reportedly had a peek as well.
A stake in Takefuji would give the buyer a foothold in an industry where firms can charge as much as the legal limit of 29.2 percent for money borrowed at close to zero percent.
Born in 1930 in a small town north of Tokyo known for its succulent leeks, Takei was raised by shop-owner parents and moved to Tokyo at 19 to take a job at a railroad.
The grade school drop-out's fortunes changed when he started a consumer finance firm, targeting housewives desperate to make ends meet through non-Collateralised loans.
Adopting strict credit checks largely absent from Japanese banks focusing on corporate clients, Takefuji's lending volume swelled to 10 billion yen ($91.26 million) in 1980 from 400 million yen in 1973, turning it into Japan's top consumer finance firm.
The karaoke-loving Takei worked hard to establish an operation free from image problems in an industry slammed by media for its violent collection techniques.
A tough taskmaster, the father of seven was known for berating employees who failed to bow or speak politely. He went through six presidents before hiring Takefuji's seventh and current president, Megumu Motohisa, from Matsui Securities.
Takei, whose two sons have worked at the company, also banned the curly perms favoured by Japanese gangsters and urged some employees with inauspicious characters in their names to change them for better luck, media reports have said.
By 1998, Takefuji's shares were listed in Tokyo and London and Takei had received a decoration from Pope John Paul II for ethical business behaviour. Takei was worth $6.2 billion earlier this year - making him Japan's second-richest person, according to Forbes Magazine.
Long ignored by Japan's most established banks, consumer finance firms have largely enjoyed free rein to charge sky-high rates in a land where credit card use has yet to blossom.
Because of the high rates, delinquency rates are generally higher than the bad loan ratios seen at Japan's big banks, which lend money at rates closer to two percent, analysts say.
Banks traditionally focused on lending to companies, the tools with which Japan rebuilt its shattered economy after World War II. But they are starting to catch on.
"A lot of the behaviour of the banks was determined by government policies," said Jason Rogers of Barclays Capital. "There was not really a strong incentive for them to get involved. And there were reputation issues."
Top financial conglomerates Mizuho Financial Group, Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group have all tied up with domestic firms over the past few months. None have been linked with Takefuji.
The lure of profits at consumer finance firms - including Acom Co Ltd and Promise Co Ltd - is undimmed despite the risks of deteriorating margins.
"There will be a disadvantage on the funding side because banks can fund themselves more cheaply than consumer finance companies can," said Rogers. But "they're still strong. They're still going to be quite competitive."
A court decision on Takei's case is expected in September. If convicted, Takefuji could be in a world of trouble.
If a shareholder who effectively owns over 25 percent of a Japanese company is sentenced to prison, the company's business licence is revoked, according to Japanese regulations.
The law has yet to be tested, analysts say. Takei's family owns a little over half of Takefuji but he himself held only around 2 percent, prompting many to say he will wait to find out the minimum amount the family must sell before deciding on the size of the stake to be sold in his firm.
"He made the company himself," said UBS senior credit analyst Graeme Knowd. "He wants to leave it to his kids."