Takafumi Horie, the spiky-haired internet tycoon who once bragged he could buy Sony but is now fighting fraud charges in a Tokyo court, has unleashed a comprehensive attack on the Japanese establishment and what he calls the “jealous elite of old Japan”.

In his first interview with the foreign media since his spectacular downfall in January, the former Livedoor president was defiant, blaming a cabal of powerful bureaucrats and media figures for creating the “mood of resentment” that led to his arrest.