Carlos Ghosn set to be ousted at Nissan for Serious Misconduct
Carlos Ghosn, Chairman of Renault Nissan, has been arrested and is under investigation for serious misconduct.
Ghosn has been arrested following an investigation instigated by a whistleblower, with claims the Nissan Chairman, along with senior executive Greg Kelly, conspired to hide Ghosn’s full remuneration from when Japanese law made it a requirement that firms disclose remuneration packages over 100m Yen in 2010.
It is also reported that Ghosn mis-used company assets for his own personal use, including properties paid for by Nissan in four countries.
The news has sent shares in Nissan and Renault tumbling, and moves are afoot to remove Ghosn, and Nissan has issued a statement on the situation:
Based on a whistleblower report, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (Nissan) has been conducting an internal investigation over the past several months regarding misconduct involving the company’s Representative Director and Chairman Carlos Ghosn and Representative Director Greg Kelly.
The investigation showed that over many years both Ghosn and Kelly have been reporting compensation amounts in the Tokyo Stock Exchange securities report that were less than the actual amount, in order to reduce the disclosed amount of Carlos Ghosn’s compensation.
Also, in regards to Ghosn, numerous other significant acts of misconduct have been uncovered, such as personal use of company assets, and Kelly’s deep involvement has also been confirmed.
Nissan has been providing information to the Japanese Public Prosecutors Office and has been fully cooperating with their investigation. We will continue to do so.
As the misconduct uncovered through our internal investigation constitutes clear violations of the duty of care as directors, Nissan’s Chief Executive Officer Hiroto Saikawa will propose to the Nissan Board of Directors to promptly remove Ghosn from his positions as Chairman and Representative Director. Saikawa will also propose the removal of Greg Kelly from his position as Representative Director.
Nissan deeply apologizes for causing great concern to our shareholders and stakeholders. We will continue our work to identify our governance and compliance issues, and to take appropriate measures.
Power corrupts, absolute power – the sort Ghosn has had at Renault Nissan – looks to have corrupted absolutely.
Pete says
When I scrolled down and looked at the photo without reading the headline I thought it was an angry looking Rowan Atkinson/Johnny English.
Cars UK says
Haha – turns out he seems as inept as Johnny English at covering his antics.