Pod Insights Scamfluencers Rocky Aoki: Hibachi’s a Bitch and Then You Die | 163 About this episode Rocky Aoki, the son of a vaudeville performer and a tango dancer, grows up in the wreckage of post-war Tokyo. With his natural flair for entertainment, he opens his first Benihana restaurant in Manhattan, making sure to entertain his customers via knife-wielding chefs. Rocky builds his business up throughout the 80s, stopping at nothing to make his restaurant empire bullet-proof, but he ends up almost bringing the ship down after having several affairs, a secret family, and a conviction for insider trading. To this day his kids and his widow, Keiko Aoki, are still battling it out over the Benihana trust and its flashy legacy.
Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at https://wondery.fm/wonderynewsletter
Listen to Scamfluencers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/scamfluencers/ http://wondery.com/links/scamfluencers/ now.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:00 Sarah Hagi? Audible subscribers can listen to all our episodes of Scamfluencers ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app. Just a disclaimer before we start this episode. I lost my voice for a few days. It's finally back, but I'm now left with this sexy rasp, which you all have to enjoy.
0:28 Sarah Hagi? Sachi, do you have like a dream dining experience? Like something that you just want to experience so badly?
0:35 Scaachi Koul? No.
0:38 Scaachi Koul? No, not really.
0:40 Sarah Hagi? It's OK. I'll throw one out for you.
0:42 Scaachi Koul? OK.
0:43 Sarah Hagi? Mine is very attainable. It is literally just to go to Benihana.
0:48 Scaachi Koul? Mmm.
0:49 Sarah Hagi? I don't know why I haven't gone like I've clearly been around one, but I feel like now it has to be so special.
0:56 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, dinner and a show. I get it. I would go with you. We should go. There's one in Toronto.
1:01 Sarah Hagi? Someone take us to Benihana.
1:03 Scaachi Koul? Benihana sponsor us.
1:04 Sarah Hagi? Maybe not.
1:07 Sarah Hagi? Maybe not after this.
1:08 Scaachi Koul? OK, maybe not. Never mind. I don't know yet.
1:10 Sarah Hagi? Well, today, I'm going to tell you all about the insane story of how Benihana got huge. But most importantly, it's a story about Rocky Aoki, the brilliant entrepreneur behind the beloved brand. He introduced a type of Japanese food to the masses, but a string of scams nearly tarnished his reputation.
1:33 Sarah Hagi? It's the spring of 1964 in midtown Manhattan. A woman named Clementine Paddleford is walking down West 56th Street when a tiny storefront catches her eye. Clementine's got blonde, wavy hair, a prominent nose, and a bright smile. But she's perhaps best known for her palate. At this time, Clementine is the restaurant critic for the New York Herald Tribune and the best-known food critic in the country. Her opinion can single-handedly make or break a New York City eatery. After more than 30 years in the industry, she probably feels like she's seen it all. But what she sees through this restaurant's front window is entirely new.
2:15 Sarah Hagi? Inside, a man is cooking for customers right at their table on a built-in steel grill. The chef uses a huge knife and long spatula to chop up pieces of steak and flip them in the air with dramatic flourish. Sachi, this sounds familiar to you. We've all seen the videos.
2:33 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, this is classic Benihana. I want him to throw the steak into my mouth.
2:38 Sarah Hagi? Yes, it is classic Benihana. One day, we will get steak and shrimp tossed into our mouths. This tiny Japanese restaurant is the first ever Benihana. And Clementine decides right then and there that she wants to review it. When she finally walks into the restaurant, it's lined with tables that are 10 feet long and 5 feet wide. Waitresses and kimonos pour her tea, and an expert chef in an all-white uniform cooks for her right there at the table. She samples a bunch of different menu items and loves them all. The shrimp is deliciously browned, the vegetables sit on top of what she calls "a haystack of bean sprouts."
3:21 Sarah Hagi? Clementine is delighted and writes a rave review. After it's published, other food critics, TV crews, and trendy New Yorkers start packing into the restaurant. The owner, Rocky Aoki, had been on the verge of shutting the restaurant down. But thanks to Clementine, Benihana grows popular enough that Rocky opens a second location within three years. Eventually, his hibachi empire grows to include locations all over the world. In the process, Rocky himself becomes a celebrity. But like so many people who get rich and famous fast, some of what Rocky does with his new fame and fortune isn't above board.
4:03 Sarah Hagi? He'll end up opening countless questionable side businesses, start at least one secret family, and use inside information to make some timely investments. Rocky's business empire will redefine the role of Japanese cuisine in American culture forever. But when it comes time for Rocky to think about his legacy, the fate of his fortune will throw his family into total chaos.
4:33 Speaker 02 Confidence. It's listening to your gut. It's moving forward even when the path ahead is unclear. For nearly 160 years, Pacific Life has helped people keep their promises, building confidence for generations. Whether you're confident in your financial future or just beginning to envision it, we're here to help. Ask a financial professional how. Pacific Life: The Power of a Promise. Pacific Life Insurance Company, Omaha, Nebraska, and in New York, Pacific Life and Annuity, Phoenix, Arizona.
5:03 Speaker 03 In New Orleans, truckers kept getting sideswiped the exact same way. When a man is found murdered under questionable circumstances related to these accidents, the rubber hits the road. Listen to "Over My Dead Body: Operation Sideswipe" wherever you get your podcasts.
5:26 Sarah Hagi? From Wondery, I'm Sarah Haggy.
5:28 Speaker 04 And I'm Sachi Cole.
5:29 Sarah Hagi? And this is Scam influencers.
5:40 Sarah Hagi? Benihana is best known for its open stove tops and chefs that turn food prep into performance art. But the chain restaurant's origins are a little less savory. Rocky Aoki overcame racism in the 60s to make a splash as a chef, then spent the 80s hoovering cocaine, crashing speedboats, maintaining secret families, and yes, doing a little insider trading. He left behind a hefty legacy: millions of dollars, dozens of restaurants, and six kids. And thanks to his penchant for drama and a controversial third wife, Rocky spent his life serving up more than just teppanyaki. This is Rocky Aoki, Hibachi's a bitch, and then you die.
6:28 Sarah Hagi? It's October 1938 in Tokyo, Japan. Rocky Aoki is the firstborn son of a couple with a flair for entertaining. His father is a vaudeville performer who idolizes Fred Astaire, and his mother is a tango dancer. It's a turbulent time to grow up in Tokyo. In 1944, when Rocky's just six years old, American planes firebomb the city, killing 100,000 people. In the wake of this tragedy, Rocky's dad, Yunosuke, opens a coffee shop. He names it Benihana, the Japanese name for the red flower he saw blooming in the wreckage of the bombings.
7:06 Scaachi Koul? Oh, that is not what I thought that meant. I didn't really think about what it meant, and I didn't know it meant that.
7:13 Sarah Hagi? I thought it meant food, that's flipping around.
7:16 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, like food and air. Feed me. I don't know what I thought it was.
7:20 Sarah Hagi? No, it's actually very beautiful.
7:22 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, I didn't think it was this poignant, and I immediately feel bad.
7:26 Sarah Hagi? Well, growing up, Rocky's kind of a handful. He loves his mom and is extremely respectful of her, but he and his dad have a more complicated relationship. On one hand, Rocky idolizes him. His father loves music, so when Rocky is a teen, he learns how to play the bass. But they also fight constantly and even get physical sometimes. During one argument, Rocky throws a punch at his dad, who responds by throwing an ashtray at his chest. In high school, Rocky joins a band, and he gets in trouble for fighting and selling girly pictures. For a while, he seems to find an outlet in wrestling. He's just 5'4" and 114 pounds,
8:08 Sarah Hagi? but he's good enough that he gets recruited to wrestle for Japan in the 1960 Olympics. His talent also attracts attention from American universities, and he accepts a scholarship offer from a school in Massachusetts. Sachi, check out this photo of young Rocky in his wrestling getup.
8:25 Scaachi Koul? He's so cute.
8:27 Sarah Hagi? He's so cute.
8:28 Scaachi Koul? Great jaw. He looks like a little, uh, a little scrappy guy. I dig it.
8:33 Sarah Hagi? He is a little scrappy, and Rocky's college days don't last long. He's suspended for multiple infractions, including breaking another student's nose. So he decides to leave and make a big move to New York City. By the early 60s, Rocky is studying restaurant management at a technical college, presumably hoping to follow in his father's footsteps. Around this time, he also starts sporting a tightly perm'd jerry curl. He later tells New York Magazine, "He adopted this style so that white people could tell him apart from other Asian guys."
9:08 Scaachi Koul? Objectively silly, but, um, this also probably worked.
9:13 Sarah Hagi? It is very endearing to think about, like, this little Japanese guy with the jerry curl, like, getting the perm and explaining why he was getting it, yeah. Also, it's around this time Rocky starts selling ice cream out of a truck to make ends meet. Only, no one in Midtown wants to buy from him, probably because of racism. So Rocky pivots. He parks his truck in Harlem, blasting Japanese music and puts little paper umbrellas on the soft serve. He tapes articles about his wrestling accomplishments to the side of his truck to help him stand out from the crowd and to intimidate potential rivals. And it works. People line up down the block to get ice cream from him. Rocky's a born businessman.
9:58 Sarah Hagi? He's got a natural talent for self-promotion and a powerful drive to succeed. And he isn't afraid to lean into Americans' skewed perceptions about Japanese culture to make a buck. But Rocky has dreams bigger than a roving ice cream truck. He wants to make his mark in the food world the same way his dad did. But Rocky is about to discover that success in the restaurant business takes generous heapings of hard work and determination and a pretty huge serving of luck.
10:31 Sarah Hagi? It's 1963 and 25-year-old Rocky is doing something a lot of us probably did in our twenties: calling his dad to ask for money. But Rocky's not trying to make rent or buy beer. Instead, he wants to open a business. Rocky saved up $10,000 from his summer running the ice cream truck. And now, he's thinking about his next move. He wants to open a restaurant, just like his dad did back in Tokyo. He's even got a location in mind. A tiny spot in midtown Manhattan with space for just four tables. It's perfect for the concept he's toying with: teppanyaki. Sachi, what do you know about this kind of food?
11:12 Scaachi Koul? I mean, that's what benihana is, right? It's when they make the food on like a flat top in front of you, right?
11:19 Sarah Hagi? Yes, it's like a specific cooking technique where a chef makes things like steak and seafood on top of that flat-top grill we are thinking about right in front of customers. It originated in Japan, but teppanyaki isn't really traditional Japanese cuisine. In fact, it was only invented after World War II, when occupying North American soldiers were looking for cuisine that was more like the American food they were used to back home. There aren't a ton of teppanyaki restaurants in the States, but Rocky figures, if Americans love this kind of cooking abroad, maybe they'll love it in America, too. His dad agrees, and he's excited to get on board. He's always wanted to expand the family's restaurant business into the States.
12:02 Sarah Hagi? And Rocky is excited that he can call the shots while his dad stays in Japan. Working with his dad on a business, even from afar, could be a tricky power dynamic for a father and son who are used to butting heads. But Rocky's dad has a really useful suggestion before the restaurant even opens. He thinks the teppanyaki idea is a little boring on its own. His vaudeville instincts are telling him that the restaurant needs some extra flair. So he tells Rocky to inject some showmanship into the cooking process. Rocky knows a good idea when he hears one, and he instructs his new chefs to clang knives, juggle shrimp, and tell jokes.
12:41 Sarah Hagi? Rocky names a restaurant Benihana in an homage to his dad and the doors opened in 1964. This is the year the Olympics are being held in Tokyo, so interest in Japanese culture is high. But starting a new restaurant is never easy, and it's especially hard when you're working against racist misconceptions. Can you read what Rocky later tells an interviewer about American restaurant audiences? He says, quote, "Americans enjoy eating in exotic surroundings but are deeply mistrustful of exotic foods." 100% correct. Absolutely. They want to eat something with chopsticks, but they want it to be fries. Yes, that is exactly it. Yeah.
13:25 Sarah Hagi? Well, for months, Benihana gets no traction and no respect. And Rocky's losing money like crazy. He can't afford to buy a liquor license or hire a proper staff. By this time, Rocky has married a family friend from home named Chizuru, who helps in lieu of actual employees. Rocky's mother and three brothers even fly in from Japan to work for him for free. The restaurant is doing so poorly, they take on side gigs for extra cash. The situation is so depressing that one of his brothers literally goes back home after a week. With everyone in his family investing their time and money in the business, the stakes are high and the pressure is mounting.
14:07 Sarah Hagi? But this is the same Rocky who managed to make $10,000 selling soft-serve ice cream in a single summer. He's not going to give up easily. Some nights, he even sleeps on the bathroom floor so he can start work the next morning as early as possible. He's hustling as hard as he can, and while he doesn't know it yet, his hard work is going to pay off. Because Benihana is about to get the kind of boost most restaurant owners can only dream about.
14:37 Sarah Hagi? It's the spring of 1964. And Sachi, remember that rave review Rocky got in the New York Herald Tribune?
14:44 Scaachi Koul? I do.
14:45 Sarah Hagi? Well, it's just been published about six months into Benihana's existence. And this single review literally changes everything. Suddenly, he's running one of the buzziest restaurants in New York City. Almost overnight, Rocky goes from serving 10 customers per dinner shift to turning people away at the door. Within two years, he opens a second location three blocks away, and he hires a Rolls Royce to take customers back and forth when each location fills up. Within a decade, Rocky's running nearly 20 Benihanas, breaking in $12 million a year in profit. The restaurant chain is completely redefining Japanese-American cuisine. And I mean that literally.
15:30 Sarah Hagi? Rocky claims he invented both green tea ice cream and the sake tini during this period.
15:37 Scaachi Koul? Okay, the stranglehold that the free scoop of green tea ice cream had over me at all those, like, weird Asian fusion restaurants that opened in Toronto? Everything Rocky did is forgiven because of the green tea ice cream.
15:51 Sarah Hagi? Well, yeah, I mean, if he invented it, definitely. I mean, and I believe him.
15:54 Scaachi Koul? I do, too.
15:56 Sarah Hagi? There is one downside to all the success. Rocky's dad feels overshadowed by his son. Their relationship is just as complicated as it was when Rocky was a rebellious teen. The two men are incredibly alike: charming, business-minded, and a bit hot-headed. When they get along, they're super close, but when they fight, it's vicious. It's a tough dynamic for any father and son, but it's even worse now that they're business partners. Even though Benihana's taking off, they get caught up in a feud over an unrelated business deal and never manage to resolve it. But Rocky has his own fatherly duties to focus on now.
16:36 Sarah Hagi? By the late 70s, he and Chisuru have three kids: Kana, Grace, Kevin, and Steve. Yes, Sachi, that's Steve Aoki.
16:46 Scaachi Koul? Okay, I did know this, that Steve Aoki's dad was the Benihana guy. Steve Aoki, who's a pretty famous DJ. It also feels right that his dad would be the Benihana guy because Steve famously throws a cake into the crowd at every show he performs at, which does feel spiritually related to throwing an egg into someone's mouth, right?
17:12 Sarah Hagi? You are connecting dots this episode that like, I didn't even know existed.
17:17 Scaachi Koul? This is why they pay me the big bucks.
17:19 Sarah Hagi? No, truly, you're blowing my mind with that. I'm like, wow. And by now, Rocky's settled down with his family in Englewood, New Jersey, a suburban town right outside of Manhattan. They live lavishly in a huge house with an indoor swimming pool and a Bentley that Rocky doesn't even have time to use because he's so busy traveling. Rocky may be a family man now, but he's not exactly a homebody. For the next decade, Rocky keeps busy. At one point, he opens a four-story nightclub called Genesis. He loses $2 million on it and shuts the club down just one year later. Then, he starts a porn magazine, also called Genesis.
18:01 Sarah Hagi? He gets really into competitive backgammon and starts doing a ton of cocaine. He produces a Broadway play and tries to buy a major league baseball team. He even starts a competitive speedboat race called the Benihana Grand Prix, which he also competes in. He gets into racing cars, and on top of all that, he also starts hot air ballooning.
18:27 Scaachi Koul? I can't believe in that list of silly little hobbies you've listed, cocaine was the least embarrassing one.
18:34 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, and I will say that Genesis existed for like 30 years. He was in it for the love of the game. Like, he kept print alive.
18:41 Scaachi Koul? He really did. I guess another thing to admire about Steve Aoki's dad.
18:47 Sarah Hagi? Well, Rocky's fueled by a combination of ambition, thrill-seeking, and restlessness. But he's doing all of this for professional reasons, too. These stunts keep him and Benihana firmly in the public eye. His hot air balloons, race cars, and speedboats all have the word "Benihana" splashed across them in huge letters. And with every wild antic, the brand gets more publicity. Rocky used to be a scrappy entrepreneur who pasted his achievements on the side of his ice cream truck. Now, he's a mogul doing the same thing on a much bigger scale. So far, Rocky's gotten everything he wants. Success, plus all the thrills he's craved
19:30 Sarah Hagi? since he was a rowdy, rebellious teenager. But he's about to hit a major bump in the road, and it's gonna force him to slow down in a serious way.
19:44 Sarah Hagi? It's September 1979 in San Francisco, and 40-year-old Rocky opens his eyes to find that he's in a hospital room. He's lying on a bed, completely naked, and there are two women standing on either side of him. The last thing Rocky remembers is going really, really fast. He was competing in his own speedboat racing competition, the Benihana Grand Prix, on a windy day in the bay. He was going about 80 miles an hour near the Golden Gate Bridge when, all of a sudden, his boat fell apart underneath him, and he got seriously hurt. He tore an aorta, broke his arm, shattered his leg, and his liver got sliced in half.
20:28 Scaachi Koul? That is very gross.
20:30 Sarah Hagi? I know, it's cartoonish to think that could happen to someone. While Rocky was helicoptered to a hospital where doctors operated on him for more than 10 hours, he eventually learns that he was unconscious for three full days. But when he first opens his eyes, he's confronted with a totally different existential dilemma: the two women in the room with him. One of them is his wife, Chizuru, the mother of his three children. And the other is his mistress, a woman named Pamela Hilberger. She showed up to watch the race with her and Rocky's secret three-year-old son, Kyle. Rocky hasn't just been hiding an affair, he's got a whole-ass second family.
21:15 Scaachi Koul? Oh my god. An affair with a white woman? Death penalty.
21:19 Sarah Hagi? I knew you were gonna say that.
21:21 Scaachi Koul? It's already bad.
21:23 Sarah Hagi? It's already bad.
21:23 Scaachi Koul? Does she have to be a white woman? You can't be married to a woman named Chisuru and then have an affair with a woman named Pamela Hillberger.
21:30 Sarah Hagi? I know.
21:30 Scaachi Koul? Please be serious.
21:32 Sarah Hagi? I know. Well, when Rocky realizes what's going on, he panics and pretends to blackout again to buy himself some time. Rocky has a lot of mistresses, including a former Miss Iceland and a bunch of women he picked up at his nightclub. But Pamela is his main girlfriend. She gave birth to Kyle about two years ago, around the same time Chisuru had Steve. Chisuru, understandably, never gets over this betrayal. Rocky later tells a reporter that she was okay with him having a mistress, but the secret kid was a last straw. In 1981, two years after his accident, she and Rocky get a divorce. And later, that same year, he marries Pamela.
22:17 Sarah Hagi? As Rocky's personal life gets more complicated, his business does too. And stay with me. This part is confusing, but it is important. As Benihana expands through the 80s, Rocky decides to separate it into two business entities so that he can raise more cash. So Benihana becomes two companies. Benihana of Tokyo, which owns 39 restaurants, and another called Benihana Inc., which owns the other 11. He sells 49% of Benihana Inc. to the public and makes a bunch of money, but stays on as chairman of both companies. For the next few years, Benihana keeps growing,
22:59 Sarah Hagi? and Rocky keeps living his eccentric mogul lifestyle. He and Pamela have two more kids together, Echo and Devon.
23:08 Sarah Hagi? Rocky's had the kind of success that most people dream about, but he still dreams of more. Here he is, talking to a reporter a few years after he split Benihana in two. When asked if he's made it yet, Rocky says,
23:22 Speaker 05 "No, no, not yet. No, never yet. I haven't scratched the surface yet."
23:28 Sarah Hagi? Every risk Rocky takes seems to work out well. So in 1993, when a friend comes to him with an insider tip about a stock he should buy, Rocky takes the advice. Why shouldn't he? It's an easy way to make some extra cash and another win for a guy who just can't stop winning. But Rocky's about to learn that flying too close to the sun is a lot like touching a hot tabletop grill. You're likely to get burned.
24:03 Speaker 06 There are books that change how you see the world, and there are books that change how you see yourself. In a new podcast series, A Great Book with Barack Obama, President Obama sits down with a series of surprising and sharp guests to explore six books that have shaped his life and perspective on the world. From Song of Solomon and The Fire Next Time, to All the Pretty Horses and Gilead, the president is joined by guests like Tom Hanks and Ta-Nehisi Coates to reflect on how these timeless stories shaped his thinking on everything from fatherhood to leadership, and discover together what they tell us about the world we live in and the world we want to create.
24:46 Speaker 06 Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of A Great Book with Barack Obama ad-free right now, plus access each audiobook discussed in the series. Download the Audible app today.
25:02 Speaker 03 A trucker merges onto the I-10 in New Orleans. He checks his mirrors. The lane is clear. And then, boom, impact. A pickup truck, seemingly out of nowhere, scrapes down the side of his 18-wheeler, multiple passengers inside. One man flees the scene. And the driver of the pickup? He doesn't seem all that upset. It didn't feel like a regular accident, because it wasn't. Across the city, truckers are getting sideswiped, all on the same stretch of the same freeway. And behind many of the cases is one person, a Hollywood stunt woman turned personal injury lawyer named Vanessa Moda. This podcast is a story about fake accidents that lead to real consequences and a scheme that ends in betrayal and murder.
25:47 Speaker 03 Listen to "Over My Dead Body: Operation Sideswipe" wherever you get your podcasts. Audible subscribers can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible app or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
26:11 Sarah Hagi? It's 1993, and Rocky's personal life isn't going so great. He and Pamela got divorced a couple years prior. And to make matters worse, he's dealing with some health issues. He's got diabetes as well as hepatitis C. But what matters most to Rocky is his work. And that part of his life is still going really well. So Rocky decides to get a little experimental. He starts serving sushi at some of his restaurants. And he turns a portion of a Benihana in Miami into an art gallery full of Tiffany lamps and Remington bronze sculptures. He expands into a line of frozen dinners. He even tries to sell a line of weight loss supplements called Rocky Aoki's Ultra Herbal Power Slim.
26:55 Sarah Hagi? Obviously, not all of these experiments are successful. But Rocky's a gambler. As long as Benihana's business keeps booming, he can afford to take these kinds of bets.
27:06 Scaachi Koul? Something tells me that pretty soon, he will not be able to make them, Sarah.
27:12 Sarah Hagi? Well, around this time in October of 1993, Rocky's approached by a businessman named Donald Kessler about an opportunity to make a little cash on the side. We don't know exactly how these two met, but Donald is what's called a "stock promoter." Basically, a salesman who helps companies pedal their stock to potential buyers. It's a job that walks a very fine line between social and shady. Donald shares a tip about a stock he thinks Rocky should buy. Now, Sashi, you and I both know how a story like this usually goes. But Scanfluencers wasn't around back then, so Rocky doesn't see what's coming. He's more than happy to hear about this exciting opportunity that's definitely not fraud.
27:58 Scaachi Koul? I know Rocky is acting here as if he had no idea any of this was fraud. I don't totally buy that, because he very clearly is a really successful business owner, and now he's gonna play stupid on how money works and how the stock market works? I don't know about that.
28:19 Sarah Hagi? I mean, some people are just dumb, Sashi.
28:21 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, I just don't buy that he's dumb.
28:22 Sarah Hagi? No, I'm joking.
28:23 Scaachi Koul? I guess I just don't think that he's actually that dumb. Too devious to be stupid, you know? You can't show your hand that much.
28:30 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, I mean, even if he didn't know, it's not really an excuse. Well, Donald tells Rocky that the then-chairman of Apple is about to become the CEO of Spectrum Cable. It's not public knowledge yet, but Donald knows that once Spectrum makes the announcement, their shares are going to skyrocket. Rocky decides to use this tip from Donald to buy 200,000 shares. And the tip pays off. When Spectrum announces their new CEO, their stock rises by almost 50%. Rocky sells his shares and makes about $350,000 in profit. He pays Donald $10,000 for his help with the deal.
29:13 Sarah Hagi? But unfortunately, Rocky's about to lose more than this tip brought in, because this one bad bet will cut him off from his fortune, his business empire, and worst of all, his family.
29:27 Sarah Hagi? It's the late 90s, a few years after Rocky bought those Spectrum shares under less than legit circumstances. And his life has been turned upside down. Even with his extreme sports accidents and his tangled web of affairs, Rocky has seemed untouchable, until now. It turns out that Donald, the guy who gave Rocky that big stock tip, spent the early 90s giving insider trading advice to a lot of different people. And now, he's under investigation by the government. In December of 1997, Donald pleads guilty to tax evasion and conspiracy to commit securities fraud. As the feds dug deeper and deeper into Donald,
30:08 Sarah Hagi? their investigation turned up many of the people who paid him for illegal trading tips, including Rocky. And in the summer of 1999, a federal grand jury indicts Rocky on six counts of insider trading and one count of conspiracy. He faces up to five years in prison and a nearly $2 million fine. In preparation for his sentencing, Rocky's lawyer tells him to give up all his positions at Benihana so the restaurant won't lose their liquor license. And Rocky follows this advice. He gets to stay on as a consultant, but he's not officially in charge of Benihana anymore.
30:49 Sarah Hagi? He also transfers his interest in Benihana of Tokyo to a trust. That's the half of the company that controls most of their restaurants. Three of his six kids are the trustees, which means they now oversee most of his assets. In the end, Rocky pleads guilty to insider trading. But because of his health issues, the judge lets him avoid jail time. Instead, he just has to pay a $500,000 fine.
31:17 Scaachi Koul? As you know, Sarah, I don't love jail, and I'm not pro-prison. But it is sort of frustrating when you see these stories of like financial fraud and like a rich person kind of gets a weird slap on the wrist. Like even the businesses are still in his family's names.
31:34 Sarah Hagi? Yeah.
31:34 Scaachi Koul? They will continue to make money.
31:36 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, exactly. It just illuminates how some people are able to get away with things and, you know, other people never will.
31:43 Scaachi Koul? Never will, yeah.
31:44 Sarah Hagi? I mean, even when Rocky loses, he is still kind of winning. He committed a serious crime and he's getting off pretty much consequence-free. He can afford the fine and his business is still in the hands of his family. But he's about to get caught up in a brand-new relationship that will change everything in his life for better and for worse. It's 2001 and Keiko Ono is chatting with Rocky at a party. Keiko's a former Miss Tokyo runner-up with long hair, high cheekbones, and charisma to burn. She's tiny, energetic, and big into astrology. For years, she's been making her way through the business world
32:27 Sarah Hagi? in a whirlwind of success and chaos. In the 80s, she was a secretary for a Japanese politician, and at some point, they started up an affair. In 1988, Keiko moved to New York to start a luxury imports business. Two years later, she brought the politician on board as a business partner, and they rekindled their relationship. But pretty soon, things between them went south. They broke up, which began a huge legal battle over their company. The whole thing ended with Keiko leaving the business and suing her former partner, who settled with her out of court. That's when Keiko starts a new company, a consultancy where she tells corporations how to win business in Asia.
33:11 Sarah Hagi? She starts working with big names like Wonder Bra, Starwood Hotels, and of course, Benihana. Keiko and Rocky get really close really fast. They stay pretty private about their relationship, so we don't know too much about the courtship phase. But it's not hard to imagine why they found each other so compelling. Between their business ambitions and their dramatic pasts, they're a match made in heaven. But in the Y2K era, the man Keiko falls in love with isn't a fast-living, hard-partying mogul anymore. Rocky's only 63 years old, but his health just keeps getting worse. He's still suffering from diabetes and hepatitis C, and now he's got liver disease as well. For the first time in his life,
33:56 Sarah Hagi? he's really slowing down. But Keiko jumps into the task of taking care of Rocky. She decorates a new minimalist apartment for them in a fancy building in Midtown, and she makes sure he's healthy enough for his weekly backgammon game. Keiko and Rocky are head-over-heels in love. Rocky tells a reporter, "I would be dead without her."
34:21 Scaachi Koul? I do think that's probably true.
34:23 Sarah Hagi? I think it's true for most marriages.
34:25 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, honestly, most men would be dead without their wives.
34:29 Sarah Hagi? So in 2002, less than a year into their relationship, Keiko and Rocky get married at City Hall on a date chosen by Keiko's astrologer. It's a happy day for them, but they decide to not tell either of their families about their wedding until it's over. When Keiko and Rocky first got together, the Aoki children seemed cautiously optimistic. Kana even said she was happy her father had found love again. But as their relationship progressed, Rocky's kids started worrying that Keiko was influencing his life too much, hence the whole secret wedding. If Rocky's kids have anything negative to say about his marriage, he and Keiko don't want it getting in the way of their big day. But hiding their wedding
35:14 Sarah Hagi? will have consequences that reverberate in the family and across every Benihana franchise for decades to come.
35:24 Sarah Hagi? It's 2002 at a ritzy Italian restaurant in the West Village. Vintage light fixtures cast a warm glow over a small dining room. The two eldest Aoki kids, Kana and Kevin, are sitting at one of the restaurant's small tables, staring at their father and his brand-new wife, Keiko. The happy couple invited them here to clear the air after their surprise wedding. But the Aoki heirs have something else in mind. Overdesert, Kana presents Keiko with an untraditional wedding gift: a postnup. It renounces any stake she might have in Benihana. As you might imagine, Keiko refuses to sign it.
36:07 Sarah Hagi? While the fight is happening, Rocky just sits there, eating silently. The whole scene is incredibly awkward for everyone.
36:15 Scaachi Koul? It is crazy to think you're gonna present a postnup to your very wealthy father's weird new wife, and she would be like, "Word."
36:28 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, I mean, I think these kids definitely see themselves as far more powerful than they are.
36:33 Scaachi Koul? Yeah.
36:34 Sarah Hagi? At this point, the Aoki children are all grown up. Kevin is 35, and Kana is 36. And despite, or maybe because, of their tumultuous upbringing, the siblings are all pretty close. Rocky may have made some mistakes as a father, but he always made sure his kids spent quality time together. By now, some of the younger Aokis have started to make their way in the world through several usual nepo baby channels. Devon is a model slash actress who famously appears in the Fast and Furious franchise, and who also dates Lenny Kravitz, and Steve owns a record label. He's also been DJing under the name Kid Millionaire, which he claims is a joke about the fact that he actually doesn't have money from his father.
37:18 Sarah Hagi? On the other hand, Steve's brother Kevin wants to work in the restaurant business like his dad. He's currently serving on Benihana's board. Each of Rocky's kids inherited a little bit of their dad's personality. Steve is rambunctious and extroverted, while Kevin and Devon both share his head for business. When they're all together, they repeat Rocky's favorite joke like a mantra: "Money isn't everything, just 99%."
37:45 Sarah Hagi? Great dad joke lands really poorly considering what's happening to this family. Well, I mean, low key true considering what's happening to this family. Yeah, maybe that's why I don't like it. Okay, it works. The Aoki kids actually take this motto pretty seriously because they have a vested interest in keeping their father's multimillion dollar empire thriving. After all, building up this chain of restaurants has been Rocky's singular focus for their entire lives. So when they hear that their dad has gotten secretly married to a woman he's known for mere months, they freak out. The kids have been noticing the impact Keiko's having on their father. Even though his health is stable, they barely see him anymore.
38:28 Sarah Hagi? Steve will later tell a reporter that he thinks this is a direct result of Keiko's influence. In Keiko's opinion, she doesn't need their approval. Sachi, can you read what she later tells a reporter about their dynamic?
38:41 Scaachi Koul? Of course, the wife influences the husband. The husband influences the wife. That's why I got married. But it's not putting a gun to a head. That's not the relationship we had.
38:51 Sarah Hagi? I mean, this is how marriage works. This is what happens to married couples. Yes, and as long as Rocky's happy, Keiko is too. And it seems like he really is. But by the end of this dinner, nobody's happy. And after this, Kana and Kevin are furious that they can't get through to their father. They see Keiko as an obstacle standing between them and Rocky, not to mention his estate. They're ready to fight for what they think is theirs. But as this battle heats up, it's clear that it'll be long and bitter and cost them more than just millions of dollars in legal fees.
39:35 Speaker 07 Imagine you're reading Pride and Prejudice, except you're not reading it. Harris Dickinson and Marissa Abella are reading it to you on Audible. Her barbs sting you. His coldness sends a shiver up your spine. Your heart aches. Your ears burn. You yearn for Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy to profess their undying love for one another. You can't bear it any longer. Well, maybe a chapter longer. Performance is so good, you'll give love a second chance. Audible. Stories that speak to you. You stepped out for your morning jog. Except it's not your usual morning jog. You started listening to an epic sci-fi book on Audible. Thirty chapters later, you've accidentally run a half marathon. You lost track of how far you've run, somewhere just past the city limits.
40:20 Speaker 07 You can't stop. You have to find out what happens next. Then it's over. The universe seems bigger. You feel different. You feel like you have no idea where you are. Audible. Stories that speak to you.
40:44 Sarah Hagi? In 2002, after Keiko refuses to sign the post-up, tension in the Aoki family reaches an all-time high. Rocky will later claim that in this period, Kevin even hires a private detective to dig up dirt on Keiko. It's extreme, but to Kevin, the question of who's in charge of his dad's estate feels particularly urgent. Rocky is only 65, but his health keeps declining. And it's not clear how much time they have left to sort things out. Kevin gets his siblings together. Alongside Rocky's lawyer, they draft a document that would give them a revocable control of the trust. Rocky signs it, but almost immediately after, he changes his mind and says he didn't understand what he was signing.
41:29 Sarah Hagi? And then he starts revising his will. This is where things start to get really messy. The first change in 2003 gives Keiko 75% control over his assets. He later says he hoped this would make his kids, quote, "realize that making peace with her would be the best possible course of action and would bring everyone together."
41:55 Scaachi Koul? I can't think of a worse plan to bring everybody together than giving your wife 75% control over your assets you've known her for just a little while.
42:04 Sarah Hagi? Well, yes, Sachi, obviously, this doesn't work. Instead, the kids watch in horror as Rocky keeps revising his will. He changes it three more times and hands over more of his estate to Keiko each revision. His kids are getting the message. If they don't get on board with their dad's new partner, they might be cut out altogether. But as it turns out, it's not just the Aoki children who are nervous about Keiko's influence. In 2004, Benihana's board grows concerned about the possibility of her owning the company. Kevin, who's on the board, plays a part in their next decision. The board issues new stock, which shrinks the Aoki family's stake in the company.
42:47 Sarah Hagi? This means Keiko's potential power over the whole enterprise is reduced, but it also lowers the value of the company. Rocky is pissed, especially at his oldest son. Kevin's supposed to be helping the company grow, not devaluing it.
43:05 Sarah Hagi? By 2006, Kevin isn't the only Aoki whose relationship with their dad is suffering. Devin and DJ Steve are making their own money, so they've managed to keep some distance from the fight over the business. But the other four kids, Kevin, Kana, Kyle, and Echo, are deep into this legal battle. In 2006, Rocky disinherits them, seeks to have them removed as trustees, and stops speaking to them entirely. He even files a lawsuit against them, saying they're trying to wrest control of the company from him just because they hate his wife. There's one more truly brutal detail in all of this. Since Rocky is technically a consultant at Benihana,
43:50 Sarah Hagi? he doesn't get paid by the company directly, so he's pulling money from the Benihana of Tokyo Trust. At this point, that's his main source of income. Before all this petty legal back and forth, he would simply call up one of his kids and ask them to withdraw some cash for him. But now, it's way more fraught. At one point, he asks if they can send him $1.5 million, and they send him $150,000 instead.
44:19 Sarah Hagi? Well, he starts selling things off like his beloved $5 million townhouse full of expensive art and souvenirs from his long wildlife. And all this legal drama keeps making Rocky sicker and sadder. He just wants everyone he loves to get along. In 2006, Rocky talks to a reporter from New York Magazine about the situation. Sachi, can you read what he tells them?
44:43 Scaachi Koul? He says, "I want to help my kids, but I want my children to crawl, to walk, then run on their own. Then I help them. But they can't even crawl. They just collect money and do nothing. What else do they want? Can't wait till I'm dead?"
44:57 Sarah Hagi? Oh, God. I mean, true, but also, you built them that way. I know. I mean, if your family motto is jokingly like, "Money isn't everything," except it is. It's just 99%. What do you think you instilled in them, right? Yeah. But it turns out, death isn't as far away as he thinks. In 2007, Rocky is diagnosed with liver cancer, and he doesn't have long to live. His six kids might lose their father while in the middle of a huge legal battle. And the question of who actually owns Benihana is suddenly more important than ever.
45:38 Sarah Hagi? It's October of 2007, five years since Keiko and Rocky got married and the family started their feud. But today, their battle is on pause. Rocky, Keiko, most of his kids, and two of his grandchildren are all gathered together. And this time, they're not in a courtroom or in front of a reporter. Instead, they're in the private room at the back of an Indian restaurant in New York City. It's Rocky's 69th birthday, and they're all here to celebrate him. The kids sing songs, read cards, and reminisce about their childhood. It's a bright spot in the darkness that's taken over the family for the last five years. Nobody talks about the trust or the lawsuits.
46:23 Sarah Hagi? They just get to be together.
46:27 Sarah Hagi? Through all the lawsuits and paperwork, Rocky's been wanting to make peace with his kids. It's safe to assume that he's been thinking about his own father as he stares down his own mortality. The two of them were still feuding bitterly over the original Benihana right up until the months before his father's death. Sachi, can you read this quote Rocky gave to a biographer about their relationship? He said, quote,
46:52 Scaachi Koul? "I never had the chance to tell my father some of the things I wanted to." Something like, "Well, I might have been wrong sometimes." And my father never admitted that he had done anything wrong. But as I think about it, maybe I never gave him the chance."
47:06 Sarah Hagi? Oh, boy. This is real end-of-life stuff. That is stuff you genuinely just don't really want to think about. Yeah. Well, you don't think about it until it's too late. Yeah. Well, less than a year later, in July of 2008, Rocky dies of liver cancer, just like his father did 29 years earlier. Unfortunately, whatever closure his kids might have gotten at that last birthday dinner is about to evaporate. The battle between his surviving family members is back on. And with Rocky gone, Keiko is determined to carry on his legacy at any cost. On a summer evening in 2008, a week after Rocky's death,
47:50 Sarah Hagi? the Aoki family files into a funeral chapel on the Upper East Side. The ceremony is private, though news of Rocky's death has New York buzzing. Page Six even followed Devon into Bergdorf Goodman a few days earlier as she shopped for a black dress and dark sunglasses. Right after Rocky's death, a family spokesperson issued a statement to the public telling the world that his six kids and Keiko, quote, "all made peace with him at his bedside." But Rocky's death doesn't reduce the tension between his widow and his kids. In fact, it just makes everything worse. Remember, Benihana is still split into two separate companies. There's Benihana of Tokyo,
48:33 Sarah Hagi? which owns some of the restaurants as well as the trust. And then there's Benihana, Inc., which owns the rest. The split was already complicated when Rocky gave up control of both companies. But now that he's gone, things are about to get even messier. The rules of the trust clearly state that it will be dissolved once Rocky dies. This means his kids completely lose access to the company. Overnight, they lose any sway they had over Benihana's finances. Meanwhile, thanks to all the changes Rocky made to his will, Keiko is the sole heiress to his estate. In 2010, two years after Rocky's death, Keiko declares herself the CEO of Benihana of Tokyo.
49:17 Sarah Hagi? And right away, she starts making changes to the business, claiming she's only following in her ex-husband's footsteps. And just like Rocky used to, Keiko tries new things in an attempt to boost Benihana's profile. She opens up new locations around the world and adds something called "The Benny Burger" to the menu. She even brings in hip-hop dancers called "The Benny Girls" to spice things up at the Benihana locations she controls. And Sachi, before you ask, yes, I do have a YouTube video of one of these dance performances for us to watch together.
49:53 Scaachi Koul? Sarah, as you know, I think it is embarrassing when people dance. I think it's especially embarrassing to dance wearing a chef's hat and holding a spatula. And that is what they are doing here. It's bad.
50:05 Sarah Hagi? Uh, well, also wearing some pretty cool ripped jeans.
50:08 Scaachi Koul? Well, they slowly undress over the course of the video. Things... They eventually are wearing t-shirt and ripped jeans. And then, uh, they make everybody else dance with them, and it is brutal. This is a brutalizing watch, and I resent you for making me look at it.
50:24 Sarah Hagi? Well, we're gonna learn the dance. But also, remember, there are two companies that control the brand. Keiko may be the CEO of Benihana of Tokyo, but Benihana Inc., the other company, still has control over the other Benihana franchises. In 2012, that company gets bought out by an investment firm for $296 million. The firm approaches Keiko to see if she'll sell her company, but of course, she refuses. From there, things just get pettier and pettier. Keiko, the kids, and Benihana Inc. start throwing lawsuits back and forth like confetti. They sue each other over whether Keiko can serve garlic butter on her Benny burger.
51:09 Sarah Hagi? They sue over the look of their websites, and the best way for Benihana chefs to bank salt and pepper shakers together. And of course, they sue each other over whether the Benny girls cheapen the brand's image.
51:23 Scaachi Koul? Oh, boy, they do. There is no doubt about that.
51:28 Sarah Hagi? I mean, who doesn't love a little song and dance, you know?
51:31 Scaachi Koul? Hmm.
51:32 Sarah Hagi? Well, at this point, there are so many lawsuits that it takes years for the courts to sort through them all. In 2014, a judge awards Steve and Devin the Benihana of Tokyo Trust. Since they're the only two kids Rocky never disinherited, each of them gets 50% of the trust, though they have to wait until they turn 45 to access it. In November 2022, on his 45th birthday, Steve inherited his share. Though, since he already added a foam pit and a pool to his $2.7 million house, he didn't really seem to need it. But things in the Yaoki family are still simmering. As of March 2024,
52:14 Sarah Hagi? a judge denied the kids' motion to remove Keiko as a trustee from the trust. Turns out, when you build a business on onion volcanoes, some things never stop erupting.
52:27 Sarah Hagi? Sachi, clearly the downfall of all this was Rocky either being swindled by a scam or intentionally scamming, who can really say? But do you think this type of fallout would have been inevitable, even if he hadn't gone through all that, as far as a scam goes and having to leave his company in a certain respect?
52:46 Scaachi Koul? I don't know, maybe. It seems like he was building an unstable empire even amongst his children. Like, I don't know. But the only thing illegal that he did was the insider trading, right?
52:57 Sarah Hagi? That we know of, yeah.
52:58 Scaachi Koul? Right. I don't know, it feels a little like a family where it was inevitable that they were gonna have this big fight. I mean, money is bad for people. It's really bad for people.
53:08 Sarah Hagi? Not me. If I had it, that would never happen.
53:10 Scaachi Koul? You have enough.
53:11 Sarah Hagi? You know, I also do think, one thing we focus on is how he did insider trading, he got caught, he could have gone to prison and paid a ton of money, but he gets off relatively easily. But ultimately, he kind of doesn't because his life does implode.
53:28 Scaachi Koul? He dies young.
53:29 Sarah Hagi? He dies relatively young. And it's almost like this weird consequence of living this fast life, where he was like, more, more, more, more, more.
53:40 Scaachi Koul? Yeah.
53:40 Sarah Hagi? You famously have many stances on marriage.
53:43 Scaachi Koul? Mm-hmm.
53:44 Sarah Hagi? Hearing stories like this, like, what do you glean? Outside of, no one should get married, everyone should be divorced. But like, what do you take away from something like this?
53:51 Scaachi Koul? I mean, I don't think there's anything good that will come out of a second, third, or fourth marriage, certainly. I guess I just don't buy that Keiko is like an evil force. I think he probably didn't talk enough to his kids. But I don't know.
54:06 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, I mean, in so many situations, even like, just real life, hearing someone talk about a stepparent or someone their parent marries, it's always like this, like, enormous amount of blame on the person who enters their family. Like, she changed everything. And it's like, listen, this isn't a value judgment on Keiko, whether or not she influenced him or not. Like, we are talking about like, a man who's made many bad choices, who's capable of doing any sort of crazy thing. A guy who had his secret mistress, you know, watch him at his like, weird boat show. You know what I mean?
54:43 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, he wasn't like above board before. And now these kids are sort of acting as if it's just because of this new marriage that their dad is acting unethically. And it's like, he's actually been doing it for a minute. I mean, I don't know, if my dad like had a whole second family, I also probably wouldn't trust him with the business either.
54:59 Sarah Hagi? Yeah, just don't really know if Keiko is like this evil genius. I think she was kind of just smart and gave him what seems to be a pretty good end of life as someone who was quite ill and in a lot of pain, right?
55:15 Scaachi Koul? Yeah, I mean, the tricky thing with these sorts of like family dynasty things is that the kids sometimes Have an expectation that the business should and will go to them. But like, nothing is owed to you. Even if your dad owns a business or whatever, he has money. Like, it doesn't necessarily mean it will go to you just because you are the child. And it doesn't mean that he wanted it to. I mean, the story is really a testament to why you should leave very clear instructions after you die. Everybody should have a will.
55:43 Sarah Hagi? What's some fun stuff you'd put in your will, you know?
55:46 Scaachi Koul? Well, what I'd put in my will? I would make sure someone trustworthy took my cat. And then I would tell all of you guys to fight for the death over my journals, which feature many unsavory and characteristically unkind things about lots of people. And whoever wins them gets to do whatever they want with them, and they will be profitable.
56:06 Sarah Hagi? Okay, and do you give me permission to use your voice for future kind of AI-type things? So I can get you to say whatever I want? Like, can I have that?
56:18 Scaachi Koul? I assume you're already doing that now.
56:19 Sarah Hagi? Amazing, that's all I wanted. I'm just gonna have you say really nice things to me.
56:25 Scaachi Koul? It's an interesting use of so much power, yeah.
56:28 Sarah Hagi? And be like, "Great job, Sarah, I always believed in you."
56:31 Scaachi Koul? No one would believe you.
56:38 Scaachi Koul? Follow Scamfluencers on the Audible app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to all episodes of Scamfluencers ad-free by joining Audible.
56:48 Sarah Hagi? This is Rocky Aoki, "Hibachi's a Bitch and Then You Die." I'm Sarah Haggie.
56:54 Scaachi Koul? And I'm Sachi Cole. If you have a tip for us on a story that you think we should cover, please email us at [email protected] . We use many sources in our research. A few that were particularly helpful were "The Crazy Bitter Battle Over Benihana" by Erica Fry in Fortune Magazine, "Rocky's Family Horror Show" by Logan Hill in New York Magazine, and "A Flower in the Debris" by Mayuk Sen in The Ringer.
57:16 Sarah Hagi? Emma Healy wrote this episode. Additional writing by us, Sacha Cole and Sarah Haggy. Olivia Bryle is our story editor. Fact checking by Lexi Peery. Sound design by James Morgan. Additional audio assistance provided by Augustine Lim. Our music supervisor is Scott Velazquez for Fries on Sync. Our managing producer is Desi Blaylock. Our senior managing producer is Callum Flues. Janine Cornelo and Stephanie Jens are our development producers. Our associate producer is Charlotte Miller. Our producer is Julie McGruder. Our senior producers are Sarah Enney and Ginny Bloom. Our executive producers are Jenny Lauer Beckman, Marshall Louie, and Aaron O'Flaherty for Wondery.
58:05 Speaker 02 Journalist Tristan Redman goes where no son-in-law should ever go. Deep into his wife's family history, digging up the cold case of who murdered her great-grandmother. Because, I should mention, he thinks the murderer might actually be the beloved family patriarch. For the best binge-watch series like Ghost Story, listen to the Audible True Crime Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
Previous Multi-Level Marketing: Your Product is You | 162 Next Prince Michael Romanoff: The High Prince of Hollywood | 164 Page updated November 3, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated