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Nissan Motor Co. paid tuition fees for the four children of ousted President Carlos Ghosn when they attended Stanford University between 2004 and 2015, according to sources close to the case.
The acquisition was part of Ghosn's employment contract since 1999, when he was hired as chairman and CEO of the Japanese automaker, said one of the people who had asked not to be named because information was not public. The advantage, which is not common among senior executives, would have earned at least $ 601,000, according to Stanford's tax schedules published in the years his children were enrolled.
In a statement, Nissan declined to comment on the details of the executive compensation programs. A spokesman for the family said Ghosn's deal had been approved by Nissan and also included tuition fees before the university. The children have finished high school or almost, he said. A spokesman for Stanford California said the US law prevented the university from giving information about paying tuition fees.
Ghosn, 65, has been accused in Japan of underreporting his income by tens of millions of dollars at Nissan and misusing the company's funds. He denied having committed a wrongdoing and is awaiting bail after spending 108 days in a Tokyo jail. The Stanford courses add to the list of lavish extras that Ghosn enjoyed at the helm of Nissan and its alliance partners, Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp., including luxury residences on four continents. and a wedding party at the Palace of Versailles.
"Very unusual"
The Wealth Advantage of Accessing Elite Universities in the United States Has Become a Hot Topic Following Recent Allegations That Rich Parents Corrupted University Administrators and College Coaches for their children to be admitted.
According to Robin Ferracone, Managing Director of Farient Advisors, a New York-based consulting firm in Los Angeles, no such payment is alleged in Mr. Ghosn's case, it is "extremely unusual" for Nissan to pay the university fees of his children. .
"Generally, tuition reimbursements are only collected in the context of expatriate badignments, and these are intended for children under the university age," said Ferracone.
Nissan's official deposits in Japan and the United States, where its shares are traded as US deposit certificates, do not include any information on the benefits of Ghosn. Under US law, executive benefits are treated as taxable compensation and US public companies must report them to investors. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation to determine whether Nissan, based in Yokohama, had accurately disclosed the compensation of its executives. Nissan said cooperate.
Luxury homes
In Japan, companies are required to disclose the compensation of highly paid executives in their financial reports but are not required to disclose the benefits they receive.
Nissan said Mr. Ghosn, in addition to collecting salaries totaling $ 16.9 million in 2017 from Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi, had received an $ 8.9 million compensation from a joint venture Dutch, Nissan-Mitsubishi BV, without the approval of one or the other company. Two companies based in the Netherlands and funded by the alliance are under surveillance to buy and renovate luxury homes in Ghosn, which will be used in Beirut and Rio de Janeiro, and to subsidize an extended weekend during the weekend. Rio carnival last year for Ghosn, his wife other couples.
In addition, Renault found that Ghosn received a "personal benefit" of € 50,000 for his Marie-Antoinette wedding at Versailles in 2016 after Renault made a donation to the castle. Ghosn said he would repay the expense.
The Renault-Nissan alliance also made philanthropic donations to a private high school near Paris attended by at least two children from Ghosn and a beginner ball where two of his daughters were presented to the company.
Caroline, Ghosn's eldest, graduated from Stanford in 2008, followed by girls Nadine and Maya in 2011 and 2013 respectively and son Anthony in 2015.
Renault made at least one donation to Stanford. A university website mentions the French company as a donor during the 2016-2017 academic year, but does not specify the amount donated or if an amount was given while the children of Ghosn were students. Renault did not answer questions about donations. Stanford confirmed one of them, but declined to provide details.
"Stanford sees gifts as confidential transactions between the donor and the university and we do not share information about a gift without the donor's permission," the university said in an email.
The donation was distinct from another financial tie between Stanford and Paris-based Renault, which has no commercial activity in the United States but has research laboratories in Silicon Valley, near the university campus. With Nissan, Mitsubishi and 35 other companies, it is an "affiliate partner" at the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford School of Engineering, founded in 2008. Each company pays $ 32,000 a year to support research center.
Ghosn is a frequent public speaker. When he spoke at other universities, he made at least five public appearances at Stanford during his children's years. These include speeches at the Business School in 2007, 2010 and 2014, a presentation at a research institute on economic policy in 2011 and a speech at the Center for Automotive Research in 2013. , according to the school's website.
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