Baba died on January 31, 1999 and Mitsuharu Misawa became president afterwards. There was a majority vote of the executive board that wanted Misawa removed from his position which he was. On June 13, 2000, Misawa, Mitsuo Momota (co-vice president, member of directory), Kenta Kobashi (member of directory), Akira Taue (member of directory, chairman), Kenichi Oyagi (member of directory) and Yoshihiro Momota (member of directory) all resigned from their board positions and the next day, Motoko Baba (Shohei Baba's widow) released a two-page written statement where she claimed claimed that Misawa "took no responsibility and abandoned his duty."