PROFESSIONAL DINNER
Carlos Ghosn, Former Nissan Motor Co. & Renault CEO and Chairman
*Mr. Ghosn is joining this event online.
17:30-20:30 Monday, December 6, 2021
The speech and Q & A will be in English.
"Unfinished Business"
Carlos Ghosn was scheduled to speak at the FCCJ in early April 2019 after languishing in prison for months. Released on bail, he had spent several weeks catching up on damaging leaks that had made their way into the media. Ghosn was eager to air his claims that a coup had removed him from Nissan's management but before he had a chance to do so he was rearrested with what he saw as an undisguised warning from the Tokyo prosecutors' office: Don't talk to the press.
In a subsequent interview he said the prosecutors had told him: 'Look, if you try to speak again, then you're going to come back to prison.' He added: "After I escaped, things started to unravel. People started to talk. We started to see much more details in what took place. Without any doubt, I knew escaping was the only way for me to tell the reality of what I lived through and give myself a chance to be vindicated in terms of my reputation, my rights, my legal rights, etc., because I was totally under control in Japan."
Now, finally, Ghosn is scheduled to speak at the club – albeit from exile following his decision to flee Japan. In a combined PAC news conference and Library Committee Book Break, he plans to tell his side of the story via Zoom on the occasion of the launch of 世界で勝てない日本企業 (Sekai de Katenai Nihon Kigyo), the Japanese translation of his book, Le Temps de la Verité, or Time for the Truth. The Japanese version is published by Gentosha.
Ghosn co-wrote the book with former FCCJ member Philippe Riès. The English translation, entitled Broken Alliances: Inside the Rise and Fall of a Global Automotive Empire (Tanooki Press), was released in September. The English version of the book will be available at the event.
Nissan, although projecting a small profit in fiscal 2021, recorded massive financial losses in the nearly three years since Ghosn's first arrest on November 19, 2018. One estimate including business and market cap losses, factory closures and job losses, puts the total losses at more than $100 billion. If it is proven that these losses, as Ghosn has alleged, are the result of a corporate coup involving collusion with the government and which include a bailout so that Nissan could avoid bankruptcy, the story will be ranked as one of Japan's worst business calamities.
How to attend the event in person:
Please register at front@fccj.or.jp with your name, the name of your media outlet, and FCCJ membership number. To attend this event, the dinner charge for members is 3,500 yen (+ tax) and for non-members 4,500 yen (+ tax) and registration/cancellation deadlines are at noon on December 2, Thursday. Reservations and cancellations are not complete without confirmation. Please note dinner will not be served after the speech begins and working journalists and student members can attend the event after the meal service for free.
How to join via zoom: Please register at front@fccj.or.jp with your name, name of media outlet and your email address by noon on December 2, Thursday if you wish to join via zoom. We regret that the number of participants is limited to 20 for working journalists. A confirmation email will be sent to you with the zoom invitation link.
How to watch Live stream of the event: https://www.youtube.com/c/FCCJchannel/live
Live streaming of the press events will be available and video of this event will be uploaded to our FCCJ YouTube channel.
How to ask questions:
1 Zoom participants will be able to ask questions using the zoom "raise hand" function.
2 Those who are watching the live stream of the event can submit questions using question form (English only): https://forms.gle/3rDM1i1w5qqxMk7L6
TV crew: Please make a reservation at front@fccj.or.jp. Doors open for TV crews only at 30 minutes before the event.
Professional Activities Committee