After graduating from University of Tokyo, he joined the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (the current Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry), and decided to establish the “Murakami Fund” around his own consulting firm, in order to become a "player" himself before the age of 40.
His typical style of investment involves obtaining shares in a target corporation, and making them focus on profitable business domains in order to maximize shareholder value.
Representative transactions include Tokyo Style, Nippon Broadcasting System, Hanshin Electric Railway, etc.
As the sizes of investments grew, 6 years after the establishment of the Fund, Murakami was arrested for accusations of insider trading of shares in Nippon Broadcasting Systems,[2][3] though there still are mixed opinions on the legal interpretation of the situation.
Murakami obtained under 1% of the outstanding shares in Idemitsu, in order to get involved “sincerely, with the perspective of a shareholder, and not as an outsider”.