[ad_1]
PARIS (AP) – A pioneer and visionary in the automotive industry, Carlos Ghosn is also a sensible man subject to excesses that could have contributed to his surprise fall at the head of the world's best-selling car group.
Ghosn revolutionized the French companies Renault SA, then Japan, Nissan Motor Co., to finally bind them as part of an alliance with Mitsubishi Motor Corp. in their best-selling company.
But although renowned for its industry costs, he spent a great deal on himself, thanks to the multi-million dollar salaries of the three companies. Ghosn's wedding in October 2016 with his second wife at the Grand Trianon in Versailles, once favored by Marie-Antoinette, featured 18th century actors, an imposing wedding cake and treats.
Like the Queen, the man once considered a king among industry executives in France and Japan has sprung up like a dying star.
Ghosn, 64, was arrested in Japan on November 19 for allegedly falsifying his financial reports and misusing funds at Nissan. Prosecutors say that he is suspected of underreporting his income of $ 44 million over five years. He is currently being held under Spartan conditions in a detention center also housing the recently sentenced and recently hanged prisoners, Shoko Asahara, leader of the sect.
No charges have yet been laid and Ghosn has made no public comment about this case, but last week the Nissan Board of Directors unanimously decided to end his 19-year reign as president. Renault's board of directors decided to keep him at the post of managing director, pending the evidence, but appointed a temporary replacement.
The board of Mitsubishi Motors sacked Ghosn on Monday, also unanimously. Its General Manager, Osamu Masuko, will assume the duties of Acting President in the expectation of a general meeting of shareholders.
Ghosn is admired in Japan for bringing Nissan back from bankruptcy, but fears for its "cost-killer" methods. He started at Nissan by cutting thousands of jobs and closing factories in a country that is reluctant to give up a job for life.
In almost two decades, Ghosn has shaken Nissan's tightly-connected business culture, giving women executive responsibilities and boosting the design and marketing of their car. He put an end to the payment of extortionary gangsters, known as "sokaiya", a courageous gesture that required additional security.
With a salary several times greater than that of the president of his rival Toyota Motor Corp., Mr. Ghosn has distinguished himself in a country of "salary" presidents, even in the larger companies, which earn relatively modest salaries. Signaling his status as an icon, he is the star of a manga, or Japanese comic strip.
Nissan executives credited Ghosn with working hard, listening and encouraging staff to achieve well-defined goals. He was keen to respect Japanese culture, posing in kimono, visiting factories and eating noodles at the company's cafeterias.
But he also spent a lot of time sailing privately through time zones and cultures, attending prestigious events such as the annual World Elite Retreat in Davos, Switzerland, the Cannes Film Festival Red Carpet and Parisian sewing shows. .
His business acumen and fame earned him rock star status at auto shows. An employee, who spoke only anonymously during the investigation, described Ghosn as a great leader: precise, communicative and temperate with a sense of humor. But he also fueled resentment in Nissan's ranks, the employee said.
The allegations against Ghosn reported by the Japanese media, but unconfirmed, suggest that he used Nissan funds to finance luxury residences in Paris, Beirut, Rio de Janeiro and Amsterdam, as well as for family vacations and other personal expenses.
Nissan chief executive, Hiroto Saikawa, described his boss's alleged misconduct as treason, saying he had too much power and that he was attributed too much merit for Nissan's success.
"It's hard to say, but what I think goes well beyond remorse and outrage," Saikawa told reporters the night after Ghosn's arrest.
Born in Brazil, where his Lebanese grandfather had sought fortune, Ghosn returned to Beirut while he was a child. A Maronite Christian, he received a rigorous Jesuit education, then left for France and studied at the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole des Mines.
He debuted in the automotive industry working with tires. In his mid-20s, Ghosn ran a Michelin plant in central France before taking over the company's operations in South America in Brazil. He was CEO of Michelin's North American operations, based in the United States, before moving to Renault SA.
In 2006, Britain awarded him the title of Honorary Knight. Lebanon, extremely proud of its success, has issued a commemorative postage stamp in its image last year. In France, where the government holds a stake in Renault, it has often met the greatest leaders.
Ghosn has long attributed his success to his multicultural origins and to a permanent "external" identity that has freed him from breaking with tradition: an autobiography of 2003, one of his books, entitled "Citizen of the World". Or "Citizen of the World". "
"It helps us to come from the outside because people do not see you as someone involved in decision making in the past," Ghosn said in an interview with The Associated Press in 2005. "That help when the business is in crisis. "
With so little information leaked as prosecutors question Ghosn and decide to charge him, some believe the scandal is partly a result of friction between Renault and Nissan: some French media have suggested that the arrest Ghosn was a facility run by Saikawa.
The French government has expressed concern about the future of the Renault-Nissan alliance, which it wants to deepen.
With the alliance leading the sector's sales, it would be tragic if the current scandal undermines Ghosn's legacy of diversity and globalization, said Janet Lewis, executive director and head of industrial research for Asia. at Macquarie Capital Securities in Tokyo.
"He did some very hard things for an intern," she said. "Given the multinational nature of Nissan's management team, which I admire a lot, I think it's probably very successful at getting people from very different backgrounds to work together." . "
___
Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo, Elaine Kurtenbach in Bangkok and Zeina Karam in Beirut contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link
