Ghosn is considered one of the car industry’s top executives and is one of the highest-paid corporate bosses in Japan. He is widely credited with having saved Nissan Motor Co. from near-bankruptcy. He also serves as chairman and chief executive of France’s Renault and chairman of Mitsubishi Motors.
Brazilian-born, of Lebanese descent and a French citizen, he is one of the few foreigners in such a senior position in Japan.
Nissan said it conducted an internal investigation that lasted several months based on a report from a whistleblower regarding misconduct by Ghosn and Representative Director Greg Kelly. It shared its findings with public prosecutors for their own investigation
Nissan said its investigation showed numerous “significant acts of misconduct,” including underreporting Ghosn’s compensation to the Tokyo Stock Exchange to the tune of more than $40 million over five years. It also said he used investment funds for personal gain and misused company expenses.
Nissan said Kelly was also deeply involved in the wrongdoing.
Renault shares tumbled nearly 10 percent in Paris, while Nissan’s German-listed securities fell by a similar amount.
Ghosn, 64, began his career at tiremaker Michelin in France in the late 1970s before moving on to Renault in 1996. There he helped engineer a turnaround in the carmaker’s fortunes that earned him the admiration of the business world — but not of labor unions or leftist politicians, who resented his high salary while he presided over massive job losses in the wake of the global financial crisis.
He joined Nissan in 1999 after Renault bought a controlling stake and became its CEO from 2001 until 2017, engineering a similar turnaround there and earning the nickname “Le Cost Killer.”
Ghosn stepped down as Nissan CEO last year but remained chairman of the company.
He became a star in the business world in Japan, appearing on magazine covers dressed in a kimono and even spawning a manga comic book on his life, although he also attracted more criticism for his high salary.
Ghosn was one of the first executives to champion electric cars, and he developed a range of low-cost cars for emerging markets.
In June, Renault shareholders approved Ghosn’s $8.5 million compensation for 2017. He also received the equivalent of more than $10 million in his final year as Nissan CEO.
His crimes and that of Director Greg Kelly includes under-reporting their salaries in the Tokyo Stock Exchange securities as well as personal use of company assets.
Despite being one of the best paid bosses in Japan – earning about $10.3m (₦3.7b) per year and $6.4 m (₦2.3b) in 2017 when he gave up his role as CEO ,he failed to report up to 5 billion yen ($44 m or ₦16b) or half of his income over a five-year period since 2011.
Mitsubishi and Renault boards will also meet to decide his fate.
Nissan is currently the world’s sixth-largest carmaker while the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance is one of the largest automakers in the world.
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