Thursday May 24, 2012

JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

Ex-Olympus CEO asks SESC to examine buyouts

Business Oct. 20, 2011 - 04:00PM JST ( 28 )

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28 Comments

8

smartacusOct. 20, 2011 - 04:17PM JST

This is starting to get ugly.
5

T_rexmaxytimeOct. 20, 2011 - 04:32PM JST

Good Good!!! Let all of them burn!!!
8

ironchefOct. 20, 2011 - 04:40PM JST

Excellent work! Stop the corruption and backscratching in Japan. Occupy Tokyo in full force!
9

HumanTargetOct. 20, 2011 - 04:41PM JST

Awesome. Looks like Olympus laid off the wrong guy.
2

RecklessOct. 20, 2011 - 04:47PM JST

Wonder if this will cause JP companies to hire more foreign managers... NO!
4

gogogoOct. 20, 2011 - 04:48PM JST

Good for him, sounds like the chairman has alot of explaining to do, hopefully the SESC takes serious action over this.
2

combinibentoOct. 20, 2011 - 04:50PM JST

and is more than 45% down from before Woodford’s demotion.

And it lost $4.1 Billion in market capitalization since LAST THURSDAY. Lol... Yes, they definitely fired the wrong guy. Although he may have left and gone public with it anyhow. Sounds like a decent dude.
0

some14someOct. 20, 2011 - 04:52PM JST

No use, as top poster says.."this is starting to get ugly"..Neither SESC nor any other competent authority will listen to Woodford.
0

wanderlustOct. 20, 2011 - 04:59PM JST

Apology, couple of months loss of salary; at the worst resignation, and turning up as head of one of the subsidiaries in a couple of months.

Bet the shredders and file deletion software are working overtime at their HQ now...
-1

moomoochooOct. 20, 2011 - 05:02PM JST

$700 million to an adviser

I really am in the wrong business.

@reckless They will avoid them like the plague..........unless they have nothing to hide :P
-2

NetNinjaOct. 20, 2011 - 05:04PM JST

My heart goes out to this guy. Gut check them. Still I hope he he didn't play his last card. Asking Japanese to investigate Japanese is like someone's uncle to investigate their nephew.

Wow, this is EPIC.

You don't ask me to resign. You are only a foreigner!!! No instead we will fire you.
Make some space next to Horiemon. If Woodford can win this fight somebody is going to jail.
2

Jared NormanOct. 20, 2011 - 05:13PM JST

Looks like another securities fraud case.
1

CrickyOct. 20, 2011 - 05:21PM JST

Ha ha, really what a trouble maker..."so regettable" As stated above asking a Japanese institution to investigate another Japanese institution...good luck with that International standards don't take the "cultural" differences that Japan has. Corruption Cash off the books it just goes on, what a great culture, It's regrettable I don't understand.
-3

papigiulioOct. 20, 2011 - 05:55PM JST

30 years old? Wow. so young and already CEO of a Japanese company, kudos. Looking at the picture Id guessed much older heh. Very interesting how this is going to play out. Olympus's doom?
4

GWOct. 20, 2011 - 05:56PM JST

Accounting is a black hole in this country, A guy I know was looking to maybe buy a company here & I said what ever you do hire a couple independent forensic accountants & even then dont believe the numbers, be VERY VERY sceptical, anywa his company didnt acquire another here so like ly make the right decision.

There is a lot of fudged numbers, lot of thieving in a lot of industries here, I am sure many of jt posters are not surprised by this stuff
2

Piltdown ManOct. 20, 2011 - 06:22PM JST

Woodford is a hero. His whistle-blowing is a model for all high-ranking execs to follow if they discover that company officials and board members have engaged in criminal behavior. This is definitely in the best interest of shareholders, the public, and Japan as a whole.

For the good of Japan's business and investment climate, the SESC has no choice but to act on Woodford's request. If they drag their feet they will mar the reputation of Japanese shares across the board and further alienate the international investment community. Conversely, if they act with resolve they will show the world that they are serious about corporate governance and above-board business dealings.
3

theeastisredOct. 20, 2011 - 06:54PM JST

He is not 30 years old. He spent 30 years working at Olympus.
-1

YongYangOct. 20, 2011 - 07:05PM JST

The Sham Japan reality is really becoming a norm. From the myth of superior workmanship (Mitsubishi, Toyota) to superior industry wide safety (That one's easy) to the myth of due diligence and honesty. What a CROCK! And don't get me started on the 'clean' myth.
3

Christina O'NeillOct. 20, 2011 - 07:19PM JST

Now I understand why Mr Woodford was fired. Obviously Olympus dont like whistle blowers
0

NuckinFutzOct. 20, 2011 - 07:20PM JST

Of course Olympus denies any wrongdoing! What they did is perfectly normal in Japanese business and so ingrained in Japanese culture that it will never be eliminated. Japanese don't know how to compete, they only know how to fix and payoff! Every day more and more Japanese businesses are being fined for price fixing, bribery etc all around the world.
3

kaketamaOct. 20, 2011 - 07:34PM JST

Things get interesting. I don't know whether the purpose of this guy is to correct wrongdoing or to retaliate on firing. But this act must make Olympus, and maybe other companies, reconsider their conventional corruption. Good job!
2

tmarieOct. 20, 2011 - 07:49PM JST

I think they will look into it. This is HUGE news in the international community as well and if they don't there will be plenty of companies not wanting to do business with various Japanese companies due to concerns. If they don't, they look bad. I don't think Kikukawa will be jailed - though he should be - but I think you will see him retiring very, very soon.
1

JapanGalOct. 20, 2011 - 08:30PM JST

Leak it to Wikileaks. That is the only way it will go public for sure, as it will never leave the post office in Japan even if it is registered.
-8

anglootakuOct. 20, 2011 - 08:56PM JST

Eye for an eye it seems as though he is playing at, they shouldnt have hired the moron to manage the company..
5

TimeiClicOct. 20, 2011 - 09:07PM JST

Yeah! I love this. I wish him the best of luck, safe in the knowledge that he is telling the truth.

Japan is SOOOO corrupt on every level.
0

wontondOct. 21, 2011 - 03:15AM JST

I'm not often on the side of the CEO "fat-cats", but if this guy was truly trying to right a wrong, then all the best to him. Hell hath no fury like a CEO scorned!
0

NovenachamaOct. 21, 2011 - 05:05AM JST

Mr. Woodford might be doing the right thing but that doesn't mean that the right thing will happen to him. Sometimes your personal and professional life will suffer. This whistle-blower might think it's worth it and hopefully did proceed with caution because quite often you do pay a high price to come forward. He probably reported this potential violation in good faith and will claim that his adverse personal action is due to events independent of whistle-blowing. However if a lawsuit ever happens, it may prove to be difficult to get protection and of course doing the right thing can in some cases get you fired. Therefore retaliation is common in whistle-blowers and unfortunately the deficiency in ethical value is increasing and integrity decreasing in the world of business.
1

theeastisredOct. 21, 2011 - 09:43AM JST

Woodford has created the conditions whereby the SESC has to investigate this properly, and after all that is their function and raison d'etre. The only way he could be described as a 'moron' is if he was involved in any of these shady activities, in which case his own actions would lead to his discovery and punishment. That seems unlikely, and even in such a scenario he would still have done the rest of the world a favour by exposing them. If he knew about the problems but didn't bring them to light promptly, that would make him somewhat complicit. But if the only reason for the delay between his learning of the problems and confronting the rest of the board with them was in order for him to establish exactly what happened, which he did by means of the PwC report, then that is totally excusable and understandable. No logical reason and no evidence so far to doubt anything he has said.