After weeks of standing by their chief executive, Renault has lost its CEO after the resignation of Carlos Ghosn, the former Nissan chief executive who is in custody in a Japan jail over alleged financial improprieties made while at the helm of the Japanese car manufacturer.
Ghosn, who had already been fired by Nissan and Mitsubishi following his arrest in November of last year, has now relinquished his position at the helm of French car manufacturer Renault, according to media reports.
France’s Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire announced Ghosn’s resignation during an interview with Bloomberg TV on Thursday, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
The French government has a 15% stake in Renault.
Bloomberg expects Ghosn’s role as Chairman to be taken up by Michelin chief Jean-Dominique Senard, and for Renault’s Deputy CEO Thierry Bollore to be promoted to the chief executive job.
“Senard would be an excellent chairman of Renault,” Le Maire told Bloomberg TV in an interview on Tuesday.
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The Board of Renault is expected to meet on January 24 and could make an announcement after the meeting.
Ghosn has been charged in Japan, along with Nissan, for hiding his pay of at least Ksh4.5 billion in understated financial results.
He is also been held for a further case of financial misreporting which is estimated to have seen Ksh3.8 billion of his pay fail to be disclosed.
According to CNN, violating financial laws of this type could see one spend at least 10 years in jail, and a fine of upto Ksh9 million.
Ghosn has denied any wrongdoing.
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Following his arrest, Ghosn lost his top positions at Nissan and Mitsubish, but Renault kept him on board citing presumption of innocence as their justification.
Mr. Ghosn, a Brazilian born businessman who also has French and Lebanese nationality, helped turn around the fortunes of Nissan during his tenure as CEO.
With Nissan facing bankruptcy, it hired Mr. Ghosn in 2001. The former Michelin North America CEO was so impressive that Fortune Magazine named him the Asia Businessman of the Year in 2002.
He stepped down in 2017, but remained as Chairman of Nissan before the revelations of the alleged financial misreporting emerged, leading to his arrest and indictement in Japan.
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