Disgraced former Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn says the U.S. government offered to have him run General Motors back in 2009, but he declined the offer.
Speaking during a lengthy press conference in Lebanon this week, Ghosn said the Obama Administration wanted him to run GM following the company’s 2009 bankruptcy, but he declined the offer as he wanted to continue in his role leading Nissan-Renault. He regrets not taking the offer, lamenting his decision to remain at the helm of Nissan-Renault during the two-hour conference.
“I made mistake. I recognize it today,” Ghosn said . “I should have accepted the offer (with GM), but I had my beliefs.”
Carlos Ghosn
Obama’s lead automotive advisor for the treasury department, Steve Rattner, allegedly offered Ghosn double what he was making at Nissan-Renault to lead GM. In his 2010 book entitled Overhaul, which documents the GM bailout in the late 2000s, Rattner said he knew it was unlikely that Ghosn would accept the offer and that he was not surprised when he ultimately declined.
Ghosn fled Japan for Lebanon in December and is currently an internationally wanted fugitive. He was arrested in Japan in 2018 on suspicion of financial misconduct and the misuse of corporate resources for personal gain before being released on 1 billion yen bail. He is believed to have been smuggled out of the country in a large audio equipment box that was loaded onto a private plane before it departed for Lebanon.
Ghosn said his decision to flee Japan was “a difficult decision and a risk one only takes if resigned to the impossibility of a fair trial.” Ghosn has maintained his innocence and claims the Japanese justice system is flawed. He also said “I did not escape justice. I fled injustice and persecution,” when speaking at the press conference this week.
The Brazilian-born auto exec used his decline of GM’s lucrative offer as evidence that he is not the “greedy” guy he is being depicted as in the media. He argues that if this depiction were true, he would have abandoned his post at Nissan-Renault for the higher salary at GM.
“This is not a greedy guy talking. A greedy guy would say, ‘Sorry guys, this is business. I’m going to go for my own interest,” he said.
Mary Barra in 2018
Mary Barra was named the CEO of GM in 2014, taking over the role from Dan Akerson, who led the company from 2010 to 2014. Akerson was formerly the managing director of The Carlyle Group.
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Source: CNBC
Comments
And now we know “who” got him out. Thanks for the intel.
On this alternate timeline, I bet Chevrolet participates in Formula 1.
Following the Ghosn Press conference, Bob Lutz commented on CNBC on the story mentioned in this post’s title. He said that this was about GM joining the Renault-Nissan Alliance.
Had he left they would have discovered his tricks earlier.
I have never understood the fascination with a Carlos. It is not like Renault or Nissan are taking the market by storm.
Most important in Ghosn’s presentation was his denunciation of the Japanese criminal justice system, which is really criminal.
I hope that his call finds a wide echo, creating a worldwide movement for a democratization of the Japanese criminal justice, and especially in Japan itself.
Just what GM needed at that time, the guy who is corporate corruption personified. Not.
Though can’t say I’m too pleased in general with who we’ve got running the ship currently. For about 5 years after the bailout, GM looked to be on the right path. Since then, they’ve reverted back to their old bean counter ways. Still bitter about the CT6, Barra.
Nissan went downhill with rusty vehicles , CVTs’s, & poor quality parts, as he is obviously was too much of a been counter, so GM would have been worse off.
In the auto industry, Ghosn is the ultimate bean counter. This is exactly what has made him famous and why Renault/Nissan cars are of such poor quality.
He would do for GM what he has done for Nissan.. one word… Fail
He would do for GM what he has done for Nissan..one word. (Fail)