Controversial Litebox CEO Yanagihara dies

The CEO of a West Coast-based business who promised in 2011 to bring more than 1,000 jobs to Indianapolis has died. Bob Yanagihara, founder of Litebox Inc., had been suffering from esophageal cancer. In 2011, alongside Gov. Mitch Daniels and Mayor Greg Ballard, Yanagihara announced plans to build a $21 million manufacturing plant on the northwest side and create the jobs. The state initially offered the then-50-year-old entrepreneur incentives worth a total of $11 million, but later revoked them when serious questions arose about Litebox’s ability to follow through on the project. It never materialized.