Gatō was a powerful shipping magnate whose shipping company was actually a front for much shadier activities, such as smuggling contraband and trafficking drugs. He took control of the Land of Waves' shipping routes and created a monopoly by isolating the country from the outside world, preventing free sea-freighting and turning it into an impoverished, hunger-stricken country in the process. He was a cruel man, responsible for humiliating and killing Kaiza in public for standing up to him.