He acquired his wealth from his chain of restaurants that he established in New York City. While earning his degree in restaurant management at the New York Community College, he worked seven days a week in an ice cream truck he rented in Harlem. Benihana is the name of the business he founded which is the Japanese word for safflower. Other than being an entrepreneur and a wrestler, he was also an offshore powerboat racer where he met an accident in 1979. With the blood transfusion he got during the injury, he acquired hepatitis C.
He passed away in 2008 due to complicated health reasons. He is succeeded by his children Steve Aoki, an electro house musician and Devon Aoki, a model and an actress.