Carlos Ghosn ousted over financial misconduct

[LTLFTcomposite]

Will his successor be more or less aggressive in furthering EVs?

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/19/renault-and-nissan-carlos-ghosn-to-be-arrested-for-financial-violations.html

 

[paulgipe]

Ouch. He's been arrested too.

Agreed. This could have repercussions on Nissan's EV program.

Paul

 

[RonDawg]

Holy sh.....

Agreed. This could have repercussions on Nissan's EV program.

Not just on Nissan's EV program. It WILL (not just can) have repercussions on the entire Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi group. Just how severe remains to be seen.

 

[mwalsh]

Yikes. I always thought he was one of the good guys.

 

[cwerdna]

If you scroll down to about 5 am of https://www.bloomberg.com/news/live-blog/2018-11-19/nissan-in-spotlight-as-ghosn-faces-allegations, there are entries from the press conference. Unfortunately, I won't have time to read most of this until later tonight.

https://nissannews.com/en-US/nissan/usa/releases/carlos-ghosn hasn't been updated yet.

I'd read the piece that https://www.titantalk.com/forums/nissan-titan-news/21966-nissan-ceo-making-superstar.html posted a copy of when it originally was up on detnews.com in 2005.

Agreed w/RonDawg. This is huge and unfortunately, probably not good for the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance. May not be good for the Alliance's EV efforts either.

 

[cwerdna]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-20/questions-swirl-over-what-felled-ghosn-as-property-deals-raised?srnd=premium has some more details, maybe.

I watched the video that the below refers to...

Separately, the Asahi newspaper -- which was the first outlet to break the news of Ghosn’s arrest -- revealed footage of a private jet with the identification number N155AN being boarded by prosecutors shortly after landing at Tokyo’s Haneda airport on Monday evening.

Ghosn is not seen in the video, which show the jet’s blinds being lowered after suited men board the plane. The car titan -- who is seen by many as the glue holding the alliance between Nissan, Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. together -- can be held in custody for up to 23 days without being charged under Japanese law.

 

[evnow]

This smells fishy. The new Nissan CEO was very evasive when questioned in the press conference. He talked apparently for an hour without giving any actual details of what Ghosn is being accused of. No actual examples of the problematic behavior have been given (that I've seen). So, these could be major conspiracies (worth millions) or minor ones now being used as an excuse to get rid off him.

Multiple outlets are already calling it a palace coup.

 

[SageBrush]

He is accused of embezzling millions from the company.
As for Nissan's EV plans -- I doubt it matters.

 

[cwerdna]

I'd read the piece that https://www.titantalk.com/forums/nissan-titan-news/21966-nissan-ceo-making-superstar.html posted a copy of when it originally was up on detnews.com in 2005.

Carlos Ghosn Was a Superhero in Japan Before His Fall
The former Nissan CEO was celebrated from boardrooms to manga.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-21/carlos-ghosn-was-a-superhero-in-japan-before-his-fall

I didn't know that the hero worship supposedly faded in 2016, as the above piece mentions.

 

[SageBrush]

I didn't know that the hero worship supposedly faded in 2016, as the above piece mentions.

He started losing power a couple of years ago. Perhaps that is when the stealing started.

 

[cwerdna]

Carlos Ghosn Faces Weeks of Interrogation in Japan Without Lawyer
Prosecutors these days generally allow three meals a day and let suspects get enough sleep, lawyers say
https://www.wsj.com/articles/carlos-ghosn-faces-weeks-of-interrogation-in-japan-without-lawyer-1542716755

Carlos Ghosn to be detained for another 10 days
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/carlos-ghosn-to-be-detained-for-another-10-days-2018-11-21

Renault Names Bollore Interim CEO as Nissan Tension Deepens
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nissan-renault-rivalry-bursts-open-053032155.html

 

[EVDRIVER]

Now if his name was Elon Musk it would be world headlines but I guess Nissan is not an important EV or auto maker. Goes to show you the Tesla nonsense,

 

[cwerdna]

Now if his name was Elon Musk it would be world headlines but I guess Nissan is not an important EV or auto maker. Goes to show you the Tesla nonsense,

It was all over the place on financial news (e.g. CNBC, Bloomberg, ft.com). Was mentioned on Nightly Business Report (which CNBC bought a few years back). There are stories about it on cnn.com and nytimes.com. I think I received push alerts from CNBC and/or Bloomberg the morning it happened. The news was a huge surprise for me but I couldn't stay up to wait for the 9 pm Japan time (actually became 10 pm Japan time) briefing.

Renault-Nissan Alliance, including Mitsubishi Motors in 2017 was the largest automaker in the world in terms of sales (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-sales-global/renault-nissan-group-pips-vw-to-become-top-selling-carmaker-in-2017-idUSKBN1FJ0LR).

 

[EVDRIVER]

It’s not the same. You know exactly what I mean.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Now if his name was Elon Musk it would be world headlines but I guess Nissan is not an important EV or auto maker. Goes to show you the Tesla nonsense,

How World does it have to be? It was all over the place.

 

[cwerdna]

The below make some good points (some brought up in another forum)
Carlos Ghosn — Greed, Stupidity, or a Coup?
https://cleantechnica.com/2018/11/21/carlos-ghosn-greed-stupidity-or-a-coup/

Did Mr. Ghosn not understand what was proper use of company assets, or how he had to fill in his payment disclosure forms? This is even harder to believe. These things are delegated to his staff and the accounting department for a reason. His time is too valuable to waste on such topics.

As someone in another forum put it, there should be an army of lawyers and accountants at Nissan handling anything related to Ghosn's compensation.

 

[palmermd]

Interesting take on the situation. I thought the news did not make sense except for a setup to get rid of him. This story confirms my suspicion and adds some reasons for it.
https://jalopnik.com/was-carlos-ghosn-whacked-1830569053

 

[EVDRIVER]

I heard he’s dating Elon’s ex and that’s why this is going down.

 

[cwerdna]

Now if his name was Elon Musk it would be world headlines but I guess Nissan is not an important EV or auto maker. Goes to show you the Tesla nonsense,

How World does it have to be? It was all over the place.

It was discussed again on Nightly Business Report on Wednesday and was also mentioned in hourly news on the NPR app. I don't recall any mention of Tesla or Elon on either on Wednesday.

Front page of https://www.bloomberg.com/ right now has 6 stories on Ghosn and only 3 on Tesla/Elon.

I guess it's possible that those in the US who are pro-Tesla and Elon or only think of Tesla when it comes to EVs might feel the magnifying glass is really on Elon. I wouldn't be surprised if all this Ghosn news is much bigger deal in Japan and France to the general public than it might be to the average American.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2018/nov/22/carlos-ghosn-nissan-board-meeting-misconduct-business-live has a live blog w/some updates. The Nissan board has ousted Ghosn. I also received push notifications on my iPhone from the Bloomberg and NHK World apps about the ousting.

http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20181122/AP/311229867 doesn't have too much new info.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/21/business/carlos-ghosn-nissan-detained-10-days.html is more insightful.

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20181122_38/ says "Sources say the prosecutors are considering criminal charges against Nissan for its corporate responsibility in the scandal."

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-22/carlos-ghosn-s-new-schedule-eat-sleep-exercise-in-detention says
"The executive is taking the arrest and investigation very badly and doesn’t understand what’s hit him, Yann Rousseau, the Tokyo correspondent for France’s Les Echos magazine told France Info radio on Thursday."

Details of Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn’s life under arrest
https://www.thestate.com/news/business/national-business/article222060620.html

Austere Japan detention quarters contrast with Ghosn's globe-trotting lifestyle
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nissan-ghosn-detention/austere-japan-detention-quarters-contrast-with-ghosns-globe-trotting-lifestyle-idUSKCN1NR1CY

From cars to bars: The Japanese detention cell holding Nissan's Carlos Ghosn
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/from-cars-to-bars-the-japanese-detention-cell-holding-nissans-carlos-ghosn

 

[cwerdna]

I Found This Very, Very Violent.’ Carlos Ghosn’s Arrest Tests Nissan-Renault Relationship
While the auto-industry star is in detention, the global auto alliance he ran is showing signs of strain and conflict.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/i-found-this-very-very-violent-carlos-ghosns-arrest-tests-nissan-renault-relationship-1542939001?tesla=y

I had to futz around clicking thru a link from Google or another place (e.g. clicking Source Link from https://tech2.org/i-found-this-very-very-violent-the-arrest-of-carlos-ghosn-tests-nissan-renault-relationship/) to read it.

The Ghosn family believed the residences in Rio de Janeiro, Beirut and other locations were corporate housing, whose purchase went through the normal channels for Nissan approval, a person familiar with the family said.
...
On Monday, the day of his arrest, Mr. Ghosn landed in a Gulfstream jet at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport at 3:41 p.m. after a 5,500-mile trip from Beirut. He had an appointment to meet his daughter for a sushi dinner. Instead, Japanese prosecutors boarded the jet. Less than five hours later, he was under arrest in central Tokyo.
...
Mr. Ghosn’s daughter never got to see her father at their planned dinner date in Tokyo Monday, said the person close to the family. She was waiting at his apartment when she got a news alert on her phone telling of her father’s arrest.