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Carlos Ghosn net worth in 2024 Career & Relationship

Estimated value: €34 million
Age: 68
Born: 05/09/1954
Country of origin: Brazil
Source of Wealth: entrepreneur
Last updated: 2021

Short introduction

Carlos Ghosn (born March 9, 1954 in Porto Velho, Brazil) – French manager of Lebanese descent, former President and CEO of Renault and Nissan; Head of the strategic alliance Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi. Became known as Nissan’s very good crisis manager.

early life

He has worked at Michelin since 1978, managing the Brazilian and North American divisions and general manager for the production of passenger and light truck tires. Since December 1996 – Executive Vice President of Renault. He joined Nissan in June 1999 as Director of Production, then became the company’s President (June 2000) and CEO (June 2001). During his time at Nissan, he earned the nickname “Cost Killer” because the program he implemented enabled significant cost reductions within the company. He has also been President and CEO of Renault since April 29, 2005. Since June 28, 2012 – Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of AvtoVAZ OJSC. In 2013-2016 he was Chairman of the Board of Directors of AvtoVAZ OJSC, and then ceded this position to Sergey Skvortsov, Top Manager of Rostec. Carlos Ghosn earned $12.5 million in 2011-2012 and became the highest-paid top executive in Japan. At the same time, Ghosn’s income as the head of Renault in France amounted to 9 million euros.

Career

After graduating in 1978, Ghosn spent 18 years at Michelin, Europe’s largest tire manufacturer, where he initially trained and worked at several plants in France and Germany. In 1981 he became plant manager in Le Puy-en-Velay, France. In 1984 he was appointed head of research and development for the company’s industrial tire division.

When Ghosn was 30 years old in 1985, he was appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Michelin South America. He returned to Rio de Janeiro and reported directly to François Michelin. Ghosn formed cross-functional management teams to identify best practices among the French, Brazilians and other nationalities serving in the South American division. The multicultural experience in Brazil formed the basis for his cross-cultural management style and emphasis on diversity as a core business argument. “You learn from diversity… the commonality comforts you,” Ghosn said. The division returned to profitability in two years.

After overseeing Michelin South America, Ghosn was appointed President and COO of Michelin North America in 1989 and moved his family to Greenville, South Carolina. He was promoted to CEO of Michelin North America in 1990. Following the acquisition of Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company, he led the company’s restructuring.

In 1996, Ghosn was appointed Executive Vice President with responsibility for Renault’s purchasing, research, engineering and development, powertrain operations and manufacturing. He was also in charge of Renault’s South American division, located in Mercosur. Ghosn’s radical restructuring of Renault successfully contributed to the company’s profitability in 1997. His reputation for success under François Michelin was further reinforced at the newly privatized Renault group.

Career highlights

On November 19, 2018, Japanese and international news media reported that Carlos Ghosn voluntarily went to the Tokyo Prosecutor’s Office and was arrested. At the same time, Nissan Motor Co. issued a press release detailing the company’s long-term withholding of information on its reported earnings, overstatement and concealment of management earnings, and use of company assets by top executives for personal gain. The main perpetrators of the violations were Carlos Ghosn and Greg Kelly. The company said the board would be asked about Ghosn’s dismissal and also apologized to shareholders. All of this resulted in a 12% decline in company shares. Renault also removed Ghosn from the board on January 24, 2019. On March 6, 2019, Carlos Ghosn was released from a Tokyo prison on bail of 1 billion yen (about US$9 million). On April 8, Carlos Ghosn was kicked out of Nissan’s board of directors.

On December 30, 2019, Carlos Ghosn was secretly taken from Japan in a musical instrument box and bypassed border and customs procedures by private plane via Istanbul to Lebanon, where he used his French passport to violate the conditions of house arrest. One of his Japanese lawyers told the press that all of the director’s passports – Lebanese, French and Brazilian – were kept by Ghosn’s defense attorneys at all times. On December 31, Ghosn issued a brief press release stating:

I am now in Lebanon and no longer held hostage to Japan’s system of phony justice, where guilt is predetermined, discrimination is rampant and basic human rights are denied. I have no intention of hiding from justice – I have escaped injustice and political persecution. Now I can finally communicate freely with the media and look forward to the beginning of next week.

Estimated value: €34 million