Nissan board fires Ghosn as chairman after arrest

TOK YO » Nissan Motor Co. fired Carlos Ghosn as its chairman Thursday, curtailing the powerful executive’s nearly twodecade reign at the Japanese automaker after his arrest for alleged financial improprieties.

In an hours-long meeting, the company’s board of directors voted unanimously to dismiss the 64-year-old Ghosn as chairman and as a representative director, Nissan said in a news release. It said its own internal investigation, prompted by a whistleblower, found serious misconduct including under-reporting of his income and misuse of company assets.

It’s a stunning downfall for one of the biggest figures in the auto industry, a man who helped drive turnarounds at France’s Renault SA and at Nissan and who managed an alliance between them that sold 10.6 million cars last year, besting its rivals.

Nissan said in a statement filed to the Tokyo Stock Exchange that its investigation uncovered misuse of company investment funds and expense money for personal gain.

This week, Renault voted to keep Ghosn as its chief executive but appointed Thierry Bollore, its chief operating officer, as its interim chief. Another Nissan executive, Greg Kelly, was arrested in Japan on suspicion of collaborating in the wrongdoing and also will be dismissed as a representative director, Nissan said. Their replacements will be decided later, Nissan said.

Ghosn is suspected of under-reporting $44.6 million in income from 2011 to 2015, according to Tokyo prosecutors.