Carlos Ghosn (; ; ar, كارلوس غصن; , born 9 March 1954) is a businessman who holds Brazilian and French nationality. Ghosn was the CEO of Michelin North America, chairman and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

, chairman of AvtoVAZ, chairman and CEO of

Nissan , trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun bra ...

, and chairman of

Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.CNN
"The Gaijin with two jobs"
CNN. 7 December 2006. Ghosn was also the chairman and CEO of the

Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance The Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance, originally known as the Renault–Nissan Alliance, is a French-Japanese strategic alliance between the automobile manufacturers Renault (based in Boulogne-Billancourt, France), Nissan (based in Yokoha ...

, a strategic partnership among those automotive manufacturers through a complex cross-shareholding agreement. The venture has held approximately 10% of the total market share since 2010, and as of 2017, was understood to be the largest automobile group worldwide. In 1996, Renault's CEO Louis Schweitzer hired Ghosn as his deputy and charged him with the task of turning the company around from near-bankruptcy. Ghosn developed a plan to cut costs for the period 1998–2000, reducing the workforce, revising production processes, standardising vehicle parts and pushing the launch of new models. The company also undertook major organisational changes, introducing a lean production system with delegate responsibilities inspired by Japanese systems (the " Renault Production Way"), reforming work methods and centralising

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

at its Technocentre to reduce vehicle conception costs while accelerating such conception. Ghosn became known as "Le Cost Killer".Litterick, David
"'Le Cost Killer' faces toughest test"
''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

''. 4 July 2006. In the early 2000s he earned the nickname "Mr. Fix It", for orchestrating one of the auto industry's most aggressive downsizing campaigns and spearheading the turnaround of Nissan from its near-bankruptcy in 1999. Following the Nissan financial turnaround, in 2002 ''

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...

'' awarded him Asia Businessman of the Year.Taylor III, Alex
"Awards"
''

''. 18 February 2002."Ghosn forecasts record Nissan profit for FY 2001"
Kyodo News International. 25 February 2002. In 2003 ''Fortune'' identified him as one of the 10 most powerful people in business outside the U.S.,Loomis, Carol J
"The 25 most powerful people in business"
''

''. 11 August 2003. and its Asian edition voted him Man of the Year. Surveys jointly published by the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' and

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounti ...

named him the fourth most respected business leader in 2003, and the third most respected business leader in 2004 and in 2005. He quickly achieved celebrity status in Japan and in the business world, and his life has been chronicled in

Japanese comics Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is use ...

. Ghosn stepped down as CEO of Nissan on 1 April 2017, while remaining Chairman of the company. He was arrested at Tokyo International Airport on 19 November 2018, on allegations of under-reporting his salary and gross misuse of company assets.AlAraby
"Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn has been arrested in Japan, over alleged financial misconduct".
'' Alaraby''. 19 November 2018. On 22 November 2018, Nissan's

board Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a ty ...

made a unanimous decision to dismiss Ghosn as Nissan's Chairman, effective immediately. Mitsubishi Motors' executive board took similar action on 26 November 2018. Renault and the French government continued to support him at first, presuming him innocent until proven guilty. However, they ultimately found the situation untenable and Ghosn was made to retire as chairman and CEO of Renault on 24 January 2019. While out on bail granted in early March, Ghosn was re-arrested in Tokyo on 4 April 2019, over new charges of misappropriations of Nissan funds. On 8 April 2019, Nissan shareholders voted to oust Ghosn from the company's board. He was released again on bail on 25 April. In June, Renault uncovered 11 million euros in questionable expenses by him, leading to a French investigation and raids. With help from an American private-security contractor, hidden in a musical instrument box, Ghosn fled from Japan to Lebanon via Turkey on 30 December 2019, by private jet, breaking his bail conditions. On 2 January 2020,

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cr ...

issued a red notice to Lebanon seeking Ghosn's arrest. Since his escape, he has frequently been interviewed by various media, published books, is the subject of a TV series in Europe, and a documentary by BBC's '' Storyville''.

Early life and education

Ghosn's grandfather was Bichara Ghosn, a Maronite Catholic who emigrated from

Ajaltoun Ajaltoun ( ar, عجلتون) is a town and municipality in the Keserwan District of the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate in Lebanon. It is located 24 km (15 miles) north of Beirut. Ajaltoun's average elevation is 850 meters (2800') above sea level ...

, French Mandate

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

at the age of 13, eventually settling in remote Guaporé,

Rondônia Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). To the west is a short border with the state of Acre, to the north is the state of Amazonas, in the east is Mato Grosso ...

, near the border between Brazil and Bolivia. Bichara Ghosn was an entrepreneur and eventually headed several companies, in businesses including the rubber trade, the sale and purchase of agricultural products, and aviation. His son Jorge Ghosn married Rose Jazzar, a

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

n-born Lebanese woman whose family came from

Miziara Miziara (known also as Meziara, Arabic: ) is a town located in the Zgharta District in the North Governorate of Lebanon. The village is home to Our Lady of Miziara, Mother of Mercies, St Elias Shrines And to Hotel Miziara the village's first hotel ...

in Lebanon then went to Brazil, where they settled in Porto Velho, the state capital of Rondônia, and had four children.Ghosn, Carlos
''SHIFT''
p. 5. Carlos' father, Jorge Ghosn (died 2006) was a diamond trader and worked in the airline industry. Jorge was convicted of murdering a priest in

Sawfar Sawfar ( ar, صوفر), also spelled as ''Saoufar'' or ''Sofar'') is a village in the Aley District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate in Lebanon. It is situated at an altitude of 1,320 meters and next to the main road linking Beirut with Damascus i ...

, Lebanon in 1960. Jorge fled to Brazil in 1975 at the outbreak of the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

. Carlos Ghosn was born on 9 March 1954, in Porto Velho.Renault Nissan. Carlos Ghosn: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Renault–Nissan Alliance
.

IE University IE University is a private university with campuses in Madrid, Community of Madrid and Segovia, Castile and León, ( Spain). IE University's programs are run in English and Spanish, and are compliant with the terms of the European Higher Educat ...

. ''IE.edu''. 3 March 2011. When he was about two years old he became sick after drinking unsanitary water, and his mother moved with him to Rio de Janeiro. He did not fully recover there, and in 1960, when Ghosn was six years old, he and his mother and sister moved to

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, where his grandmother and two other sisters lived. Ghosn completed his secondary school studies in Lebanon, at the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

school Collège Notre-Dame de Jamhour. He then completed his

classes préparatoires Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...

in Paris, at the Collège Stanislas and the

Lycée Saint-Louis The lycée Saint-Louis is a highly selective post-secondary school located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, in the Latin Quarter. It is the only public French lycée exclusively dedicated to providing '' classes préparatoires aux grandes ...

. He graduated as an engineer from the

École Polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

in 1974 and the

École des Mines de Paris Mines Paris - PSL, officially École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris (until May 2022 Mines ParisTech, also known as École des mines de Paris, ENSMP, Mines de Paris, les Mines, or Paris School of Mines), is a French grande école and a ...

in 1978.

Career

Michelin

After graduation in 1978, Ghosn spent 18 years at

Michelin Michelin (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ''région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and larg ...

, Europe's largest tire maker, initially training and working in several plants in France and Germany. In 1981, he became plant manager in Le Puy-en-Velay, France. In 1984 he was named head of research and development for the company's industrial tyre division. In 1985, when Ghosn was 30 years old, he was appointed chief operating officer (COO) of Michelin's South American operations.Kase, Kimio; Sáez-Martinez, Francisco J.; Riquelme, Hernán
''Transformational CEOs: Leadership and Management Success in Japan''
Edward Elgar Publishing, 2005. p. 125. He returned to Rio de Janeiro, reporting directly to François Michelin, who tasked Ghosn with turning around the operation, which was unprofitable and struggling under Brazil's hyperinflation. Ghosn formed cross-functional management teams to determine best practices among the French, Brazilian, and other nationalities working in the South American division.Muller, Joann
"The Impatient Mr. Ghosn"
''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

''. 12 May 2006. The multicultural experience in Brazil formed the basis of his cross-cultural management style and emphasis on diversity as a core business asset. "You learn from diversity ... but you're comforted by commonality", Ghosn has said. The division returned to profitability in two years. After turning around Michelin's South American operations, Ghosn was appointed president and COO of Michelin North America in 1989, and moved to

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville (; locally ) is a city in and the county seat, seat of Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. Greenvil ...

, with his family."Carlos Ghosn headed Michelin North America before turning around Nissan"
. ''GreenvilleRoots.com''. He was promoted to CEO of Michelin North America in 1990. He presided over the restructuring of the company after its acquisition of the Uniroyal Goodrich Tyre Company.

Post-privatisation Renault

In 1996, Ghosn became executive vice president in charge of purchasing, advanced research, engineering and development, powertrain operations, and manufacturing at Renault; and he was also in charge of Renault's South American division, located in the Mercosur. Ghosn's radical restructuring of Renault successfully contributed to profitability of the company over 1997. His reputation of successful performance under François Michelin was repeated under the first CEO of the freshly privatized Renault.

Nissan and the Renault–Nissan Alliance

Carlos Ghosn visiting Norway (8633423351)

In March 1999, Renault and

formed the Renault–Nissan Alliance, and in May 1999 Renault purchased a 36.8% stake in Nissan.Renault–Nissan Allance, December 2005 (handbook)
''Nissan-Global.com''. p. 40. While maintaining his roles at Renault, Ghosn joined

as its chief operating officer (COO) in June 1999, became its president in June 2000, and was named chief executive officer (CEO) in June 2001. When he joined the company, Nissan had a consolidated interest-bearing net automotive debt of more than $20 billion (more than 2 trillion yen), and only three of its 46 models sold in Japan were generating a profit. Reversing the company's sinking fortunes was considered nearly impossible. Ghosn's "Nissan Revival Plan", announced in October 1999, called for a return to profitability in

fiscal year A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...

2000, a profit margin in excess of 4.5% of sales by the end of fiscal year 2002, and a 50% reduction in the current level of debt by the end of fiscal year 2002.NISSAN REVIVAL PLAN
''Nissan-Global.com''. 18 October 1999. Ghosn promised to resign if these goals were not met. Ghosn's Nissan Revival Plan called for cutting 21,000 Nissan jobs (14% of total workforce), mostly in Japan; shutting five Japanese plants; reducing the number of suppliers and shareholdings; and auctioning off prized assets such as Nissan's aerospace unit. Ghosn was the fourth non-Japanese person to lead a Japanese automaker, after Mark Fields, Henry Wallace and James Miller were appointed by Ford to run

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one ...

in the late 1990s. In addition to cutting jobs, plants, and suppliers, Ghosn spearheaded major and dramatic structural and corporate-culture changes at Nissan. He defied Japanese business etiquette in various ways, including by eliminating seniority-based and age-based promotion, by changing lifetime employment from a guarantee to a desired goal for when the company achieved high performance, and by dismantling Nissan's ''

keiretsu A is a set of companies with interlocking business relationships and shareholdings. In the legal sense, it is a type of informal business group that are loosely organized alliances within the social world of Japan's business community. The '' ...

'' system; an interwoven web of parts suppliers with cross-holdings in Nissan.Snyder, Bill
"Carlos Ghosn: Five Percent of the Challenge Is the Strategy. Ninety-five Percent Is the Execution"

Stanford Graduate School of Business The Stanford Graduate School of Business (also known as Stanford GSB) is the graduate business school of Stanford University, a private research university in Stanford, California. For several years it has been the most selective business schoo ...

. 9 July 2014. When the Nissan Revival Plan was announced, the proposed dismantling of ''keiretsu'' earned Ghosn the nickname "''keiretsu'' killer", and ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' quoted a

Dresdner Kleinwort Benson Kleinwort Hambros is a private bank owned by Société Générale that offers financial services from offices throughout the United Kingdom and Channel Islands. Kleinwort Hambros focuses on private banking, providing a range of services for high ...

analyst in Tokyo as saying Ghosn might become a "target of public outrage" if Nissan threw former affiliates out of its supply chain. Ghosn changed Nissan's official company language from Japanese to English, and included executives from Europe and North America in key global strategy sessions for the first time. In the first year of the Nissan Revival Plan,

's consolidated net profit after tax climbed to $2.7 billion for fiscal year 2000, from a consolidated net loss of $6.46 billion in the previous year. Twelve months into his three-year turnaround plan, Nissan had returned to profitability, and within three years it was one of the industry's most profitable auto makers, with operating margins consistently above 9%; more than twice the industry average. The goals of the Nissan Revival Plan were all reached before 31 March 2002.Ghosn, Carlos
''SHIFT''
p. xix. In May 2002, Ghosn announced his next set of goals for the company, "Nissan 180", a three-year plan for growth based on the numbers 1, 8, and 0: By the end of September 2005, Nissan planned to increase its global sales by one million vehicles; and by the spring of 2005, it was committed to achieving an operating margin of at least 8% and reducing its net automotive debt to zero. These goals were all reached: In the spring of 2003, Nissan announced that its net automotive debt was eliminated in fiscal year 2002. Nissan's operating profit margin climbed to 11.1% in fiscal year 2003; it had been 1.4% in fiscal year 1999. In October 2005, Nissan announced that its annual sales from 30 September 2004, to 30 September 2005, were more than 3.67 million, up from the 2.6 million vehicles sold in the fiscal year ended March 2002. Carlos Ghosn GT-R

In May 2005, Ghosn was named president and chief executive officer of Renault. When he assumed the CEO roles at both Renault and Nissan, Ghosn became the world's first person to run two companies on the

Fortune Global 500 The ''Fortune'' Global 500, also known as Global 500, is an annual ranking of the top 500 corporations worldwide as measured by revenue. The list is compiled and published annually by ''Fortune'' magazine. Methodology Until 1989, it listed onl ...

simultaneously. In 2005, billionaire investor

Kirk Kerkorian Kerkor Kerkorian ( hy, Գրիգոր Գրիգորեան; June 6, 1917 – June 15, 2015) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was the president and CEO of Tracinda Corporation, his private holding company based in Beve ...

acquired a 9.9% stake in

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

(GM) and seated one of his representatives on the company's board, then urged GM to investigate a merger with Renault and Nissan with Ghosn as the new chairman of GM. In 2006, GM's embattled management rebuffed the takeover attempt, and by the end of the year, Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. sold most of its GM stock. In 2006, Ford Motor Co. made Ghosn a formal offer to lead the company. Ghosn refused, reportedly saying the only way he would come to the struggling company was if he was named both the CEO and chairman of the board. Bill Ford Jr. refused to give up his chairmanship. Carlos Ghosn Honmoku 3

In 2007, Ghosn led the Renault–Nissan Alliance into the mass-market zero-emission

electric car An electric car, battery electric car, or all-electric car is an automobile that is propelled by one or more electric motors, using only energy stored in batteries. Compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, electric cars are quiet ...

market in a major way, and committed €4 billion (more than $5 billion) to the effort.Moffett, Sebastian
"Nissan, Renault Place a Big Bet On Electric Cars"
''The Wall Street Journal''. 14 September 2009.Squatriglia, Chuck
"Q&A: Renault–Nissan CEO Pledges $5.6 Billion for EVs"
'' Wired''. 16 June 2011. In 2008, he confirmed that Nissan–Renault would bring an "entire lineup" of zero-emission electric cars to the worldwide market by 2012. In 2009, he told the University of Pennsylvania's

Wharton School of Business The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university ...

, "If you're going to let developing countries have as many cars as they want—and they're going to have as many cars as they want one way or another—there is absolutely no alternative but to go for zero emissions. And the only zero-emissions vehicle available today is electric ... So we decided to go for it." The Nissan Leaf, an electric car billed as "the world's first affordable zero-emission car",de Courson, Roland
"Nissan Unveils 'Leaf' Electric Car"
''

IndustryWeek ''IndustryWeek'' (IW) is an American monthly trade publication founded in 1882. Content ''IndustryWeek'' is a trade publication and website owned by Endeavor Business Media. It is a business-to-business (B2B) service that produces print, e-media ...

''. 2 August 2009.NISSAN UNVEILS "LEAF" – THE WORLD'S FIRST ELECTRIC CAR DESIGNED FOR AFFORDABILITY AND REAL-WORLD REQUIREMENTS
.

Nissan Motor Corporation , trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun bran ...

. 2 August 2009. debuted in December 2010. As of 2017, the Renault–Nissan Alliance is the world's electric vehicle leader, selling more than twice as many electric cars as Tesla, and the Nissan Leaf is the world's best-selling electric vehicle by a wide margin. Ghosn was a visible leader in recovery efforts after the Japanese earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011, one of the worst natural disasters in modern history. On 29 March 2011, he made the first of several visits to the hard-hit Iwaki engine plant in

Fukushima prefecture Fukushima Prefecture (; ja, 福島県, Fukushima-ken, ) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,810,286 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miyagi ...

, 50 km (31 miles) from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, and at his direction Nissan restored full operations at the Iwaki factory well ahead of expectations. He appeared on television in Japan to encourage optimism. In May 2011, Ghosn remained committed to building at least 1 million of Nissan's cars and trucks in Japan annually. In 2011 Ghosn was under scrutiny by the French government for mishandling a spying scandal related to Renault. In June 2012, Ghosn was named deputy chairman of the board of directors of Russian automobile manufacturer AvtoVAZ. In June 2013, he was appointed chairman of the Russian company, a position he retained through June 2016."Renault's Ghosn cedes Avtovaz chairmanship to Rostec exec"
''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...

''. 18 April 2016. Renault had begun a strategic partnership with AvtoVAZ in 2008 by acquiring a 25% stake in the company; this led to increasingly deeper partnerships between Renault–Nissan and AvtoVAZ, ending in Renault–Nissan Alliance control of the Russian automaker in 2014. In February 2017, Ghosn announced he would step down as CEO of Nissan on 1 April 2017, while remaining chairman of the company.Soblefeb, Jonathan
"Carlos Ghosn, Executive Who Revived Nissan, Will Step Aside"
''The New York Times''. 22 February 2017.

Hiroto Saikawa is the former president and former CEO of Nissan. Career Hiroto Saikawa joined Nissan in 1977 after graduating from University. In October 2000, he became General Manager of Purchasing Strategy Dept, and in April 2001, he became Executive Gen ...

, succeeded Ghosn at Nissan. In November 2018, Renault owned 43.4% of Nissan, while Nissan owned non-voting shares equal to 15% of Renault's equity.

Mitsubishi

In October 2016, Nissan completed the acquisition of a controlling 34% stake in

Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance The Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance, originally known as the Renault–Nissan Alliance, is a French-Japanese strategic alliance between the automobile manufacturers Renault (based in Boulogne-Billancourt, France), Nissan (based in Yokoha ...

creates the world's fourth-largest auto group, after Toyota, Volkswagen AG, and General Motors Co.Ma, Jie; Horie, Masatsugu
"Nissan Seals $2.3 Billion Mitsubishi Motors Stake Acquisition"
''

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg T ...

''. 19 October 2016. Mitsubishi Motors board removed Ghosn from his role as chairman on 26 November 2018, following his arrest and ousting from Nissan for alleged financial misconduct.

Advisorships

Ghosn served on the International Advisory Board of Brazilian bank

Banco Itaú Banco Itaú S.A. was a former Brazilian bank that merged with Unibanco on November 4, 2008, to form Banco Itaú Unibanco. History Banco Itaú began in 1945 under the name ''Banco Central de Crédito'' (Central Bank of Credit) and later changed ...

(a major party in the privatisation of Renault) until 2015. He is also a member of the advisory board of

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbr. THU) is a national public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. The university is a member of the C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, Projec ...

School of Economics and Management in Beijing. He has received an honorary doctorate from

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...

; and he is a member of the Strategic Council,

Saint Joseph University Saint Joseph University of Beirut (French: ''Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth'', abbreviated to and commonly known as "USJ") is a private Catholic research university located in Beirut, Lebanon, which was founded in 1875 by French Jesuit mis ...

of Beirut. In 2014 and 2015, he was elected president of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. He serves as governor of the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

Arrest in Tokyo, subsequent Nissan investigation and escape to Lebanon

Initial arrest

On 19 November 2018, Tokyo District Prosecutors arrested Ghosn at 4:30 p.m. upon his re-entry into Japan aboard a private jet that had come from Lebanon, for questioning over allegations of false accounting.Le Point
Du côté des autorités japonaises et françaises, un seul mot d'ordre: la stabilité de l'alliance' Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Motors".
''

Le Point ''Le Point'' () is a French weekly political and news magazine published in Paris. History and profile ''Le Point'' was founded in September 1972 by a group of journalists who had, one year earlier, left the editorial team of '' L'Express'', w ...

''. 20 November 2018. Ghosn's top aide Greg Kelly, a Nissan director and former head of human resources, was also arrested upon his arrival from the U.S. that day. On the same day, Nissan chief executive Hiroto Saikawa announced at a press conference that Ghosn had been dismissed from Nissan's board and would be stripped of executive rights at a meeting to be held on 22 November. Saikawa stressed that the dismissal was the result of an internal inquiry by Nissan, and alleged that Ghosn and Kelly had under-reported their compensation (a violation of securities law) and used company assets for personal use. While the allegations remained unproven in court, with due legal process pending, at the same news conference, Saikawa "expressed disappointment, indignation, and despair at Ghosn's conduct, which included using company funds for personal investments and misusing corporate assets" and also said, "This is an act that cannot be tolerated by the company... It is sufficient grounds for his dismissal." Although the company did not provide details, reports in the Japanese media stated that Nissan was paying all or some of the costs at some amount of US$18 million for residences used by Ghosn in Rio de Janeiro, Beirut, Paris and Amsterdam, and that Ghosn charged family vacation expenses to the company. The purchases of some of these residences and the payment of expenses were handled by a shell company named Zi-A Capital BV based in the Netherlands, which Kelly had instructed Nissan's board to set up to make venture investments at the end of 2010 (around the same time as Ghosn's divorce from his first wife and beginning of a relationship with his second wife). Nissan funds were used to purchase Ghosn's Paris apartment in 2005, and Zi-A funds were used to purchase his $5 million beachfront Rio apartment in 2012 and his Beirut mansion, which, with renovations, cost over $15 million. Nissan compliance auditors began trying to track Zi-A activity in 2014 but were stymied at first by the chain of shell companies used in Zi-A investments. In addition, to avoid reporting the full amount of his compensation in Nissan financials, as required by Japanese law beginning in 2010, Ghosn had Kelly structure complicated deferred payment plans which went unreported under an aggressive interpretation of the disclosure rules which Nissan's outside auditors had not signed off on, and which totaled around $80 million at the time of his arrest eight years later. According to ''Nikkei'' reports, Ghosn told investigators that he instructed Kelly to handle the compensation reporting in a legal manner, and Kelly told investigators that he acted on advice from outside law firms and the

Financial Services Agency The is a Japanese government agency and an integrated financial regulator responsible for overseeing banking, securities and exchange, and insurance sectors in order to ensure the stability of the financial system of Japan. The agency operates ...

in handling the reporting. Leaks to the media said that Ghosn had planned to call a vote to fire Nissan CEO Saikawa and reinstate Kelly (who had semi-retired to the U.S. in 2015) to active service at the scheduled board meeting. Ghosn was detained at the Tokyo Detention House, under Japanese rules that allow suspects to be detained for up to 23 days without criminal charges being filed. Ghosn and Kelly were reportedly arrested on information provided by an unidentified non-Japanese executive in Nissan's legal department, in the second deal ever struck under Japan's recently introduced

plea bargain A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or ''nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendant ...

ing system. Charges were filed against Ghosn and Kelly on the underreporting of deferred compensation on 10 December, along with allegations of additional charges that restarted a 10-day holding period without bail. Nissan also took control of the Rio and Beirut properties and changed the locks, which has led Ghosn's family to sue for access.

Continued detention and new charges

On 21 December 2018, Ghosn was re-arrested on suspicion of shifting to Nissan personal losses of US$16.6 million related to a personal swap contract in October 2008 (during the global financial crisis). The introduction of those charges prevented Ghosn's release on bail later the same day, because the new charges permitted an additional 10–20 days of incarceration prior to a bail hearing. Subsequent reporting linked this charge to Ghosn's dealings with Sheikh Khaled al-Juffali, the vice chairman of one of Saudi Arabia's largest conglomerates and majority owner of a company which owns half of a regional joint venture called Nissan Gulf, with the other half held by a wholly owned Nissan subsidiary. In return for a personal letter of credit from Juffali to Ghosn during the 2008 crisis, which served as bank-demanded collateral for Ghosn's swap contract, Nissan indirectly paid $14.7 million from an internal discretionary fund known as the "CEO Reserve" to a wholly owned Juffali company in four installments between 2009 and 2012, although the internal documentation did not specify the ultimate recipient. According to Tokyo prosecutors, Kelly was not involved in this transaction and so was released on bail on 25 December. Ghosn made his first public appearance after his arrest at an arraignment on Tuesday, 8 January 2019, where he asserted his innocence, making a statement in response to the main allegations against him; however, his bid to be released from prison on these charges was rejected. Ghosn's imprisonment was set to end on 11 January 2019. That day, Ghosn was indicted on two additional charges: aggravated breach of trust and understating his income, once again extending his imprisonment. As a result, he could remain in jail for months more before a trial would take place. Two days later, Nissan's investigation allegedly found that, in addition to the underreporting of salary already charged, Ghosn had paid himself an undisclosed $8 million in 2018 from a Netherlands-based joint venture owned by Nissan and Mitsubishi that was set up in 2017, without the knowledge of either company's directors because Ghosn had the sole authority to dispense cash from the venture. Ghosn again appealed the denial of bail from 8 January 2019 and offered to meet greater restrictions and higher guarantees of appearance in return for his release, including wearing an ankle bracelet and posting his Nissan stock as collateral. Additionally, on 14 January 2019 Ghosn's wife Carole published a letter that she wrote to

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ...

protesting against his treatment in detainment. Nevertheless, on 21 January 2019, the Tokyo district court again denied bail. The Japanese term hitojichi shihō ("hostage justice") has been brought up in some media reports. Takashi Takano, one of Ghosn's lawyers stated that the Japanese judicial system is a country risk.

Further developments

On 11 January 2019 José Muñoz, Nissan's chief performance officer and head of its China operations, resigned from the company. Muñoz, considered to be a close ally to Ghosn and a possible successor as CEO of Renault and Nissan, had been a "person of interest" in Nissan's internal investigation, with which he was reported to be uncooperative. One of Nissan's three independent directors opined that Nissan may simply eliminate the position of chairman and not replace Ghosn, a route previously taken by other scandal-plagued Japanese companies. The

Japan news service reported that Nissan may file suit against Ghosn personally. At first the French government and

had been reported to be standing behind Ghosn during his imprisonment, on the presumption that Ghosn is innocent until proven guilty. However, France's financial minister

Bruno Le Maire Bruno Le Maire (; born 15 April 1969) is a French politician and former diplomat who has served as Minister of the Economy and Finance since 2017 under President Emmanuel Macron. A former member of The Republicans (LR), which he left in 2017 to ...

stated on 16 January that Renault may seek a new CEO to replace Ghosn due to his continued incarceration. Renault possibly worried about Nissan taking the chance to use the power vacuum at Renault to reshape the alliance's balance of power. After the French government called for leadership change and his bail requests were rejected by the Japanese courts, Ghosn finally agreed to step down. He resigned as chairman and CEO of Renault on 24 January 2019. On 30 January 2019, Ghosn said the charges were "plot and treason" by executives at Nissan who opposed the relationship with Renault and a future plan that was in the works to integrate Nissan,

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

and Renault. In mid-February 2019, Ghosn's lead

counsel A counsel or a counsellor at law is a person who gives advice and deals with various issues, particularly in legal matters. It is a title often used interchangeably with the title of ''lawyer''. The word ''counsel'' can also mean advice given ...

Motonari Otsuru stepped down and was replaced by Jun'ichirō Hironaka, who has a record of success in a number of high-profile cases.

Bail

In early March 2019, Ghosn was granted a request for bail in a Tokyo court. This was his third bail request, and the first by his new legal team under Hironaka. The court set bail at 1 billion yen (about US$9 million) subject to stringent conditions. He was not allowed to travel abroad, and had to remain at a given address under 24-hour camera surveillance, with no internet access. He was released on 6 March 2019. On 3 April 2019, Ghosn tweeted that he was "ready to tell the truth" and that he would hold a conference on 11 April 2019. He was re-arrested for the fourth time early on 4 April 2019 over new suspicions of financial misconduct concerning alleged dealings via

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

. Ghosn released a statement claiming the arrest was "outrageous and arbitrary". Until that point in time he had been held for 108 days since he was first arrested in November 2018. On 8 April 2019, during an extraordinary shareholders meeting, Nissan shareholders voted to remove Carlos Ghosn from the company board. Shareholders also voted to remove Ghosn's former right-hand man Greg Kelly, and to appoint Renault chairman Jean-Dominique Senard as a director. The next day, Ghosn posted a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

video, where he publicly stated that he was "innocent of all the accusations that came around these charges that are all biased, taken out of context, twisted in a way to paint a personage of greed, and a personage of dictatorship". He also claimed that the payments to Juffali were meant to help Nissan fix a dispute with a local distributor, and to open a bank contract to convert his salary from yen to US dollars, in order to avoid currency swings. The Japanese court rejected an appeal filed by Ghosn's lawyers, and approved an initial 10 days detention for Ghosn, until 22 April 2019. He was released in late April, but confined to strict house arrest, including having no contact with his wife for four months.

Investigations in other countries

In June 2019 Renault published that in an internal audit they had uncovered 11 million euros in questionable expenses by Ghosn, which was followed by the French state opening its own investigation into his actions. Prosecutors in the district of Nanterre west of Paris stated that anti-fraud police had searched his residence in the town of

L'Étang-la-Ville L'Étang-la-Ville () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. Geography L'Étang-la-Ville is served by two railway stations on the Transilien Line L: L'Étang-la-Ville and Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche� ...

for evidence. In July Renault's headquarters in

Boulogne-Billancourt Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious commune in the Parisian area, located from its centre. It is a subprefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department and t ...

were searched by 20 police personnel in relation to this case. July also saw Carlos Ghosn take action against French mass-media for

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defi ...

. In August 2019 his wife Carole appealed to President

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...

of France to intercede on behalf of her husband with Japanese leader

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe ( ; ja, 安倍晋三, Hepburn: , ; 21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 20 ...

at the

45th G7 summit The 45th G7 summit was held on 24–26 August 2019, in Biarritz, France. In March 2014, the G7 declared that a meaningful discussion was currently not possible with Russia in the context of the G8. Since then, meetings have continued within the ...

held from 24 to 26 August at the French town of

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spa ...

. In September 2019, in one of the first legal accords of the saga, Ghosn settled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over claims of failing to disclose more than $140 million in pay to him from Nissan. He was fined $1 million while Nissan was fined $15 million and Greg Kelly $100,000. Although he neither admitted nor denied the SEC's charges, he accepted a ten-year ban from serving as an officer or director of a public company. Kelly accepted a five-year ban under similar terms. According to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', the settlement all but ended Ghosn's career as a global business executive.

Flight from Japan

On 30 December 2019, numerous media outlets reported that Ghosn had escaped from Japan and arrived in

. Ghosn later confirmed these reports through a statement released by his press representative in New York. In his statement, Ghosn claimed that he would "no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system where guilt is presumed, discrimination is rampant and basic human rights are denied." Ghosn left his Tokyo apartment at around 14:30 on 29 December 2019 and joined two men at a nearby hotel.
/ref> The three then took a Shinkansen, bullet train from

Shinagawa is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The Ward refers to itself as Shinagawa City in English. The Ward is home to ten embassies. , the Ward had an estimated population of 380,293 and a population density of 16,510 persons per km2. The total are ...

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

and arrived at a hotel near

Kansai International Airport Kansai International Airport ( ja, 関西国際空港, Kansai Kokusai Kūkō) commonly known as is the primary international airport in the Greater Osaka Area of Japan and the closest international airport to the cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and ...

just after 20:00. The team hired to extract him from Tokyo had noticed that Japanese security did not follow Ghosn into hotels, which facilitated his escape. A few hours later, two men left the hotel carrying large containers, including an audio equipment box where Ghosn was hidden. The men then boarded a Bombardier Global Express private jet with Turkish registration TC-TSR. The large box carrying Ghosn was never x-rayed or checked by customs officials, because it was too big to fit inside the x-ray machine; the plane left Kansai Airport at 23:10, landing at

Istanbul Atatürk Airport ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_ ...

at 5:26 on the morning of 30 December 2019. Within an hour of the plane's landing, a separate private jet left for Beirut. An employee at Turkish private jet operator MNG Jet admitted to falsifying passenger records, in which two separate planes were leased, one from Dubai to Osaka and then Osaka to Istanbul, while the other from Istanbul to Beirut. The Ambassador of Lebanon to Japan Nidal Yehya denied the involvement of the Embassy of Lebanon in Ghosn's escape, but "always stressed to him that he must abide by all the conditions of his release, as decided by the Criminal Court in Tokyo".

Residence in Lebanon

Following Ghosn's arrival in Lebanon, a Tokyo court granted a request by Japanese prosecutors to revoke his bail. While Japan and Lebanon are both members of Interpol and have had diplomatic relations since 1954, there is no extradition agreement between the two countries. Interpol has issued a red notice for his arrest. Japanese authorities raided Ghosn's Tokyo apartment on 2 January looking for evidence. Ghosn later addressed reports that his family, including his wife Carole, may have played a role in his departure from Japan, stating that "such speculation is inaccurate and false." On 7 January, prosecutors in Japan issued an arrest warrant for Carole Ghosn on suspicion of giving false testimony during a court hearing in April 2019. Carlos Ghosn held his first press conference since leaving Japan on 8 January 2020, in which he described his imprisonment conditions, pleaded innocence and named Nissan executives who plotted his demise. He claimed that when he left Japan, "I fled injustice and political persecution." The next day, Judge Ghassan Ouiedat, a Lebanese prosecutor, imposed a travel ban on Ghosn. After his escape from Japan, Carlos Ghosn's Japanese lawyer and seven other members of his defense resigned. His lawyer, Junichiro Hironaka, said his escape was a "complete surprise". On 10 February 2020, Ghosn hired former

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

president

Michael Ovitz Michael Steven Ovitz (born December 14, 1946) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was a talent agent who co-founded Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in 1975 and served as its chairman until 1995. Ovitz later served as presid ...

, co-founder of the Creative Artists Agency, as his Hollywood agent. On 12 February 2020, Nissan launched a $90 million lawsuit against Ghosn for alleged “corrupt” actions, and on 29 February 2020, Japan's financial regulators fined Nissan 2.42 billion yen ($22 million) for underreporting remuneration of former Chairman Ghosn and other executives for years. On 8 July 2020, ''

The Nikkei ''The Nikkei'', also known as , is the flagship publication of Nikkei, Inc. (based in Tokyo) and the world's largest financial newspaper, with a daily circulation exceeding 1.73 million copies. The Nikkei 225, a stock market index for the Toky ...

'' reported that $862,500 was paid from a Paris bank account related to Ghosn to Promote Fox, a company managed by Michael Taylor, an ex- Green Beret who helped him flee to Lebanon. Ghosn's house in Lebanon sustained damage following the August 2020 Beirut explosion, which occurred 5 kilometers (3 miles) away from the residence. On 3 November 2020, Lebanon's prosecutor general decided not to charge Ghosn for visiting Israel in 2008 because the statute of limitations had expired. Previously, some Lebanese lawyers wanted Ghosn prosecuted over his 2008 trip to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

as the chairman of Renault-Nissan to meet Better Place founder

Shai Agassi Shai Agassi ( he, שי אגסי, born April 19, 1968) is an Israeli entrepreneur. He is the founder and former CEO of Better Place, which had developed a model and infrastructure for employing electric cars as an alternative to fossil fuel techn ...

, which they claim violated the

Arab League boycott of Israel The Arab League boycott of Israel is a strategy adopted by the Arab League and its member states to boycott economic and other relations between Arabs and the Arab states and Israel and specifically stopping all trade with Israel which adds t ...

. In November 2020 the United Nations human rights group said that the Japanese government should give Ghosn "compensation" and "other reparations" due to the arrest and detention conditions in November 2018. In November 2020, a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

working group on arbitrary detention concluded that Ghosn's arrest and detention in Japan was "fundamentally unfair". Despite the fact that the Nelson Mandela Rules set a 15-day limit on how long prisoners can be kept in isolation, Kelly was held in solitary confinement for 37 days before he was granted bail, and Ghosn for 108 days. The Taylors were in solitary confinement for more than 100 days each. “The Carlos Ghosn case, including Greg Kelly and the Taylors, is an aberration,” said William Cleary, an expert on Japanese law with a doctorate in criminal procedure. In December 2020, it was reported that French investigators would meet with Ghosn in January 2021 as part of a separate investigation of expenses covered by a Dutch subsidiary of Renault and Nissan. Ghosn is under two investigations in France, one that is focused on suspicious transactions between Renault and a distributor in Oman, as well as another investigation into alleged illegal payments for private trips and events paid by Renault-Nissan's Netherlands-based holding company, RNBV. In a January 2021 interview, Ghosn questioned why France was questioning him over the charges, while Japan did not, and denied the charges.

Prosecution and conviction of facilitators of his escape from Japan

Arrest warrants issued by Japanese prosecutors on 30 January 2020 claimed that the escape operation was orchestrated by former

United States Army Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army. The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal mi ...

soldier Michael Taylor, a private-security contractor with extensive contacts in Lebanon. The warrants also claimed that Michael was assisted by his son Peter Maxwell Taylor and a third American, George Antoine Zayek. Michael Taylor had conducted similar international rescue operations in the past. On 8 May, Turkey charged seven people accused of helping Ghosn flee to Lebanon via Istanbul. On 20 May, United States authorities arrested Michael and Peter Taylor on suspicion of helping Ghosn escape. On 30 October 2020, the US agreed to extradite the Taylors to Japan. In June 2021, Michael Taylor and his son Peter, pleaded guilty in Tokyo to helping Ghosn escape from Japan in December 2019. The Taylors later expressed their regret and apologized to the Japanese. In addition, it was revealed that Ghosn paid the Taylors more than $1 million for their services, in the form of bank transfers and bitcoin payments. In July 2021, the Taylors were convicted and sentenced in Japan for aiding Ghosn. Michael was sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment while his son received a 20 months' sentence.

Further prosecutions

In April 2022, France issued an international warrant for Ghosn's arrest, in addition to four other individuals who administrated the Omani company Suhail Bahwan Automobiles, in which the latter had allegedly helped Ghosn to funnel millions of dollars of Renault funds through them for his personal use, including the purchase of a 120-foot yacht. Ghosn said the timing of this warrant was "suspicious" and later mentioned that he wanted to stand trial on charges of financial wrongdoing to clear his name.

Personal life

Carlos Ghosn - Mondial de l'Automobile de Paris 2014 - 001

Ghosn's first marriage was to Rita Kordahi, who came originally from Rayfoun, Lebanon, and whom he met in France in 1984. Together they had four children:

Caroline Caroline may refer to: People *Caroline (given name), a feminine given name * J. C. Caroline (born 1933), American college and National Football League player * Jordan Caroline (born 1996), American (men's) basketball player Places Antarctica * ...

, Nadine, Maya and Anthony. They divorced in 2012. In May 2016, Ghosn married Lebanese-American Carole Nahas and, a few months later in October, threw a large-scale

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...

-themed party at the Grand Trianon of the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

, in the outskirts of Paris, to celebrate both the wedding and Carole's 50th birthday. He is reported by several Japanese media to have six private residences: in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

.Dumaine, Brian
"Renault–Nissan: Can anyone succeed Carlos Ghosn?"
''

''. 29 December 2014. Ghosn, whom ''

'' magazine called "the hardest-working man in the brutally competitive global car business", as of 2006 was splitting his time between Paris and Tokyo and logging roughly 150,000 miles (241 400 km) in airplanes per year. Japanese media called him "Seven-Eleven" ("work very hard from early in the morning till late at night").Nakae, Koji
''Cultural Change: A Comparative Study of the Change Efforts of Douglas MacArthur and Carlos Ghosn in Japan''
.

MIT Sloan School of Management The MIT Sloan School of Management (MIT Sloan or Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs ...

( MBA thesis). June 2005. He holds citizenship to Brazil and France."The Gaijin with two jobs"
'' CNN''. 7 December 2006. He has been noted for his direct, results-and-execution-oriented style in business strategy meetings, and for his interest in resolving problems from within a company by listening to workers and by cross-functional and cross-cultural team groupings. Ghosn is

multilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all ...

, speaking four languages fluently – Arabic, English, French, and Portuguese – and he has also studied Japanese. He is a partner in Ixsir, a winery in the northern coastal town of Batroun, Lebanon. In 2012, he was named to the Honorary Board of the American Foundation of Saint George Hospital in Beirut. In 2020, he became a coach to business leaders at USEK. Ghosn was hailed as a potential presidential candidate in Lebanon in 2007. In a June 2011 survey by life-insurance company

Axa Axa S.A. (styled as ''AXA'' or GIG in the Middle East) is a French multinational insurance company. The head office is in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. It also provides investment management and other financial services. The ...

, Ghosn was ranked No. 7 in a random poll asking Japanese people, "Which celebrity do you want to run Japan?" (Barack Obama was No. 9, and Prime Minister

Naoto Kan is a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) from June 2010 to September 2011. Kan was the first Prime Minister since the resignation of Junichiro Koizumi in 2006 to serve for m ...

was No. 19.) He has so far declined such overtures, saying he has "no political ambitions". Ghosn's lawyers have stated he has chronic kidney disease which they claim was worsened by his lack of access to proper treatment while imprisoned.

In the media

Beginning in November 2001, Ghosn's life story was turned into a superhero comic book series in Japan, titled ''The True Story of Carlos Ghosn'', in the

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

comic book '' Big Comic Superior''.Zaun, Todd. ''The Wall Street Journal'', 27 December 2001. The series was published as a book in 2002. His face has been reproduced both in Lebanese postage stamps and in bento boxes in Japanese restaurants. Ghosn is the subject of a number of books in English, Japanese, and French. In English, he wrote a bestselling business book called ''Shift: Inside Nissan's Historic Revival''. He was the subject of another business book called ''Turnaround: How Carlos Ghosn Rescued Nissan'' by David Magee. He also provided strategic business commentary and on-the-job lessons to aspiring managers in a book called ''The Ghosn Factor: 24 Inspiring Lessons From Carlos Ghosn, the Most Successful Transnational CEO'' by Miguel Rivas-Micoud. Netflix in 2022 released a documentary titled Fugitive: The Curious Case of Carlos Ghosn, which chronicles Ghosn's rise, as well as the internal rivalries and tensions he sparked within Nissan-Renault, and his dramatic arrest.

Awards and recognition

As a result of his achievements, Ghosn has had numerous awards and honors bestowed upon him. Some of these include: * In 2001, he topped ''TIME'' magazine's list of Global Influentials, beating

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...

and several other globally renowned businessmen. * In 2001, he was named Father of the Year by a Japanese community group. * In 2002, he was appointed a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour (''Knight of the Legion of Honour'') by the French government. * In 2002 ''

'' awarded him Asia Businessman of the Year. * In 2003, he was named Man of the Year by ''Fortune'' magazine's Asian edition.Ali, Arif
"Nissan Opens Largest Showroom in Oman"
''

Arab News ''Arab News'' is an English-language daily newspaper published in Saudi Arabia. It is published from Riyadh. The target audiences of the paper, which is published in broadsheet format, are businessmen, executives and diplomats. At least as o ...

''. 5 June 2005. * In 2003 ''

'' listed him as one of the 10 most powerful business leaders outside the U.S. * In 2004, he became the first foreign business leader to receive the prestigious Blue Ribbon Medal from Emperor Akihito of Japan. * In 2004, he was added to the Automotive Hall of Fame. * In 2004, he was also added to the Japan Automotive Hall of Fame. * In 2006, Ghosn was made an Honorary Knight Commander of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

. * In 2010, ''CEO Quarterly'' magazine listed Ghosn as one of the "Most Respected CEOs". * In 2011, CNBC listed Ghosn as Asia Business Leader of the Year. * In 2012, Ghosn was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite, an honorific designation to civilians in recognition of services that benefit Morocco. * In 2012, Ghosn received the Japan Society Award. * In 2012, Ghosn became the first person in the auto industry, and the fourth overall, to win a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Strategic Management Society, a non-profit group that promotes ethical and strategic business stewardship. * In 2012, Ghosn was awarded the Grand Cross of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

, an honorific designation to civilians in recognition of services that benefit Spain. * In 2013, he was appointed an International

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senior ...

. * In 2017, Lebanon's national post office, LibanPost, unveiled a collectable stamp honoring Carlos Ghosn.

Publications

* ''Renaissance'', Tokyo, ed. Diamond-sha, 2001. * ''Shift : Inside Nissan's Historic Revival'', New York, ed. Crown Publishing Group, 2005. * ''Le temps de la vérité'', Paris, ed. Grasset, 2020. * ''Broken Alliances: Inside the Rise and Fall of a Global Automotive Empire'', Minneapolis, ed. Tanooki Press, 2021. * ''Ensemble, toujours'' (with Carole Ghosn), Paris, Les Éditions de l’Observatoire, 2021.

General sources

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ghosn, Carlos 1954 births Brazilian chairpersons of corporations Brazilian chief executives Brazilian Maronites Brazilian people of Lebanese descent Chief executives in the automobile industry Chief operating officers Collège Notre Dame de Jamhour alumni Collège Stanislas de Paris alumni École Polytechnique alumni Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering French chairpersons of corporations French chief executives French people of Brazilian descent French people of Lebanese descent Fugitives wanted by Japan Fugitives wanted on fraud charges Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Japanese chief executives Living people Lebanese Christians Mines ParisTech alumni Nissan people People from Rondônia Renault people Automotive businesspeople Mitsubishi Motors people