[Ithaca]

This incident reminds me of a Book & a famous quotation.

The book is applicable to corporations but points 1~3, in my opinion, also are applicable to individuals.

Book - How The Mighty Fall by Jim Collins.
This book describes how to recognize that a company is headed for a decline.

5 Stages Of Decline .

1. Arrogance and regarding success virtually as an entitlement
2. Undisciplined pursuit of more
3. Denial of risk and peril

Points 4 & 5 may not be applicable for Ms Ghosn because he was brought down by a whistle blower and an honest internal investigation into the complaints raised by said whistle blower.

Quotation - The line belongs to Sir Walter Scott, from his 1808 poem Marmion.
This line is wrongly attributed to William Shakespeare.

- Oh! what a tangled web we weave
When first we practise to deceive!

Source - Marmion .

[i74js]

He brought three companies under one roof; obviously one of the reasons of downfall of three companies could be professional misconduct at various levels (besides competition and falling margins among others)

And now the same person who did all this and was relentlessly working towards the final merger of three companies to ensure success for joint entity after his exit has been in limelight for one wrong step !!!

This is bad for the industry, the shares of Nissan have fallen by 15% in a single day.

How the mighty have fallen. This is shameful if proved.

I would be extremely happy if Carlos gets a clean bill for his actions.

[aravind.anand]

Originally Posted by speedmiester

Carlos' arrest is shocking.
This can hurt Nissan's India operations as they are already struggling to get a foothold in the market.

No way! Leaving the fact that Nissan India does not have much (volumes) to lose, I don't think this will affect their vehicle sales in any way.

Courtesy: The VW feud caused so much uproar, and so many people vowing never to buy a VW again, only to see the company climb the sales ladder globally. And in India, there hardly was any noise regarding the feud.

[Hayek]

Huge loss for Nissan and Renault. Carlos Ghosn was a fabulous leader - whose one key failing was unwillingness to build a second line. The fall in the stock reflects that - but it also reflects what Ghosn was worth to Nissan shareholders.

I think Ghosn was underpaid compared to what he was worth - the sad thing is instead of quitting if unhappy with pay, he seems to have dipped his hand in the till. But let’s wait for all facts to come out - it could well be a coup by the Japanese against a Gaijin Chairman.

[SmartCat]

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently: Warren Buffett

[GTO]

Originally Posted by aravind.anand

Courtesy: The VW feud caused so much uproar, and so many people vowing never to buy a VW again, only to see the company climb the sales ladder globally. And in India, there hardly was any noise regarding the feud.

But VW's emission scandal meant that all resources were focused on solving it and recovering sales in bigger markets. What that meant was, the tap of cash + attention to India was turned off.

For at least 6 months now, all of Nissan India's emails to global HQ will go unanswered as they have bigger problems to solve.

[kiku007]

This is sad at many levels.

A chairman who swore by cost cutting is accused of financial misconduct. I can't imagine how bad the employee morale would be. A lot of trust and goodwill down the drain.

The retail customer won't care as long as the product and service meet their expectations.

[AMG Power]

The Chairman of a Global conglomerate isn't going to spoil his future by dipping his hand into the till for what appears to be peanuts.

If he were to "dip his hand into the till" it would be for something on a very large scale yet not noticeable.

This is similar to being caught for taking the company car for shopping when he should have used his personal car. Maybe wrong and a violation by Japanese rules.

While turning around any company you build enemies and in turning around Nissan he would have rubbed a lot of people including Japanese on the wrong side.

He probably has enough enemies in Japan and who would want to see him out and were probably waiting for such an opportunity.

Under reporting Income is a crime?? Even if it were true or a mistake or whatever, he just has to pay the tax and penalty and continue as is done everywhere else.

Arrested for under reporting income shows there is a LOT MORE than meets the eye and clearly a hidden agenda by some folks whose feathers Carlos had obviously ruffled!

[volkman10]

Renault may replace Ghosn as CEO.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Ghosn "is no longer fit to lead Renault" following his arrest.

The French state owns 15 percent of Renault, which in turn holds a 43.4 percent stake in Nissan.

The French government, Renault's biggest shareholder, called on Tuesday for an interim management structure to be put in place.

Link

[am1m]

Can't help it, but I'm smiling at this piece of news!

Call it schadenfreude, call it 'eat the rich' syndrome, but I'm tired of the glorification of people like this like this who are exceptional in one field, but are touted as role models and examples in all aspects of life.

Cricketers speaking about society, hollywood and bollywood stars talking about world issues, businessmen talking about the nation (before his fall from grace I know several youngsters who thought Vijay Mallya was a role model!). (Other pet peeve- Steve Jobs!) For the longest time ever I've heard this Nissan chap quoted as a role model in sooo many corporate business cases.

In general, it's sad that celebrity opinions matter about anything and everything. The media encourages this because it makes for easy brand recognition and attention-grabbing headlines.

They are great at one thing, doesn't mean they are saints.

Edit: Conversely, their flaws don't negate their brilliance in their particular field of course.

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by Hayek

Huge loss for Nissan and Renault. Carlos Ghosn was a fabulous leader - whose one key failing was unwillingness to build a second line. The fall in the stock reflects that - but it also reflects what Ghosn was worth to Nissan shareholders.

I think Ghosn was underpaid compared to what he was worth - the sad thing is instead of quitting if unhappy with pay, he seems to have dipped his hand in the till. But let’s wait for all facts to come out - it could well be a coup by the Japanese against a Gaijin Chairman.

Didn't understand your poor guy comment.

He under-reported income by 44.4 million dollars and then quoting

"Broadcaster NHK reported, citing unnamed sources, that Nissan provided Mr Ghosn with houses in four countries without legitimate business justifications.

Millions of dollars had been spent to purchase and renovate the homes in Brazil, Lebanon, France and the Netherlands, NHK said."

I guess these were done by him for himself ?

[ajmat]

I had the privilege to interact with him during a round table (Renault Nissan Alliance Discovery Tour)in Chennai back in 2013. He might be only 5 ft 6" tall but he had presence. He walks in ready for any challenge. He hated easy questions and he was quick on his replies.

I spent time during the evening with his staff who told me that he was a hard taskmaster and knew what he wanted. His schedule was planned 200 days in advance with not much leeway.

I normally take a transatlantic flight and need a weekend to recover, not Carlos, he would arrive from Paris into Tokyo and hit the ground running.

He did have his weaknesses. He was a bean counter first then a pure car guy. That meant we did get some dull Nissans. Renault somehow met their financial objectives so he gave them a free rein although he did brutally rationalise the car range and halved the UK car portfolio for the purpose of profitability (no RHD big Renaults) anf focrcing them to promote the Dacia brand.

His biggest fault was holding onto absolute power at all costs. He had an excellent second line of executives whom he lost.

Carlos Taveres - Heading Peugeot and doing a damn good job in reinventing the brand, making decent cars and taking big risks (GM Europe acquisition)

Andy Palmer - Ace product guy - now got the best job in the world - turning around Aston Martin near to his home town and enjoying himself in the process.

I guess the insulation that absolute power causes one to think he is invincible. Perhaps it was arrogance, perhaps he was misinformed about tax breaks, the investigation will need to establish that.

However, he was difficult to get rid off. The haste in which Nissan and Renault are replacing him points to some internal politics also.

[D33-PAC]

Originally Posted by am1m

Can't help it, but I'm smiling at this piece of news!

Call it schadenfreude, call it 'eat the rich' syndrome, but I'm tired of the glorification of people like this like this who are exceptional in one field, but are touted as role models and examples in all aspects of life.

In general, it's sad that celebrity opinions matter about anything and everything. The media encourages this because it makes for easy brand recognition and attention-grabbing headlines.

They are great at one thing, doesn't mean they are saints.

Edit: Conversely, their flaws don't negate their brilliance in their particular field of course.

I saw the thread and posts, didn't comment. Had to stop to say this post is absolutely freaking GOLD.

Saw way too many people fall from grace. Point is, everybody is human. I don't understand the over glorification and idolization .

[CARDEEP]

Isn't it ironical for Japanese authorities to arrest him, but not arrest Toyodas & Takatas for vehicles' fault that were life threatening & intact resulted in harm.
Just because these people are own men (Japanese) these roam Scot free by issuing public apology.

Japanese bias against foreigners at helm IMO. Unfortunately, this is made a big news when he could just have been let off by paying taxes & penalties. In fact, it's the CFO & Corporate Legal & Communication Heads (Japanese men?) who should be arrested for misleading. The CEO cannot look into micro issues, whether corporate or personal (he's a global citizen/ taxpayer). The role of whistleblower is dubious in this case.

#ConspiracyTheory

[Games Goblin]

Another perspective on the event. Speculation whether it was an inside job at Nissan to oust Ghosn:

https://jalopnik.com/was-carlos-ghos...ked-1830569053