NISSAN DISCHARGES CHAIRMAN CARLOS GHOSN

The board of Japanese auto behemoth Nissan has voted unanimously to discharge Carlos Ghosn as Chairman and Representative Director following his arrest on allegations that he had under-reported his income to the Japanese government for several years. Ghosn was reportedly pushing for a merger between Nissan and its alliance partner, French automaker Renault, where he is also Chairman and CEO. Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi have formed an alliance over the past two decades and Renault is now Nissan’s largest shareholder with 43 per cent stake. In the wake of the turmoil, France’s Economy Ministers met in Paris to discuss the Nissan-Renault alliance, which employs around 4.7 lakh people. Brazil-born Ghosn became the world’s first person to simultaneously run two companies on the Fortune Global 500 list when he assumed the CEO roles at both in 2005. He stepped down as Nissan CEO last year.