Nissan shareholder meeting faces controversial proposal, investors suggest reappointing Ghosn as CEO

At the annual general meeting of Nissan Motor Co. held on Tuesday local time, a shareholder proposed a motion recommending the reappointment of former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn, who is currently on trial over allegations of financial misconduct.

On June 25, Carlos Ghosn told Reuters that some Nissan shareholders want him to return to the company, driven by market dissatisfaction with the successive failures of Nissan's multi-year restructuring plans.

Ghosn publicly criticized that since his departure in 2018, successive management teams at Nissan have continuously eroded corporate value and lost strategic focus. Three CEOs have failed to reverse the operational downturn, and investors have long lost patience. He stated that shareholders' demands for his return are entirely reasonable, and the anger and disappointment of shareholders are clearly palpable to the outside world.

Shareholders' nostalgia for the previous management stems from the stark contrast between historical performance and the current situation. When Ghosn took over Nissan in 1999, the company had been loss-making for seven consecutive years and was burdened with high debt. By closing inefficient factories, streamlining personnel, and optimizing the supplier system, he drove Nissan back to profitability in a very short time.

However, from a legal and corporate governance perspective, the proposal is not feasible. In November 2018, Ghosn was arrested in Japan on suspicion of underreporting his compensation and misappropriating funds. He was released on bail after posting a 1.5 billion yen deposit.

In December 2019, Ghosn fled from Osaka's Kansai Airport to Lebanon. Japanese prosecutors have not terminated their pursuit of him, and France also issued an arrest warrant in 2022. Since Lebanon has not signed bilateral extradition treaties with either Japan or France, Japanese authorities currently have no means to bring him back into custody.

Ghosn also bluntly stated that Nissan's current operational situation is dismal. He claimed that Nissan's stock price has fallen by 80% since 2018, annual sales have dropped from over 5 million vehicles to approximately 3 million, and the company's financial strength continues to weaken.

In response to Ghosn's remarks, Nissan stated that it would not comment on speculative statements and emphasized that the company's restructuring efforts are proceeding in an orderly manner. It noted that it achieved operating profit in the last fiscal year and maintains sufficient cash reserves.