With a $3-bn war chest, this Japanese firm is on its way to rule global web

Instead of delivering search results like Google, or shipping merchandise like Amazon, Recruit acts as a go-between, matching businesses with customers and taking a cut or selling ads along the way

It was one of the most infamous companies in Japan, rocking the nation with a corporate scandal that ousted a prime minister and then nearly collapsing under a mountain of debt.

Now, Recruit Holdings Co. is back, reinvented by a group of employees who quietly turned the magazine publisher and job-placement firm into an internet giant that touches the lives of almost every consumer in the world’s third-biggest economy.

If Recruit were a US company, it would be like having LinkedIn, Zillow, Yelp, eHarmony, Booking.com, Square and dozens of other apps — all under one roof.

“We are there, every time people choose