Nissan may ask ex-Toray chief to chair board meetings
TOKYO: Nissan Motor is considering asking ex-Toray Industries chief and Japan Inc heavyweight Sadayuki Sakakibara to chair its board meetings while leaving vacant the chairman post previously held by Carlos Ghosn, said a source.
Japan’s No. 2 carmaker was considering nominating Sakakibara, a former head of powerful business lobby Japan Business Federation, to become an external director at the general shareholders’ meeting in June, said the source yesterday.
Nissan has tasked an external committee to help improve corporate governance after the arrest and ouster of Ghosn, who is facing charges of financial misconduct, including understating his compensation by about US$82 million (RM335.3 million) over nearly a decade.
Ghosn has denied the charges.
Sakakibara is already a co-chair of the committee, which is due to make recommendations this month on corporate governance including procedures for executive appointments and compensation.
Nissan, along with partners Renault and Mitsubishi Motors, this week announced a major retooling of their alliance through the creation of a three-way board meeting to put themselves on a more equal footing.
Renault chairman Jean-Dominique Senard will chair the alliance board, but in a critical sign of the rebalancing, not become chairman of Nissan.
Before his arrest in November, Ghosn had been chairman of all three individual companies while also leading the alliance.