Nissan Motor Co.'s board of directors spent most of about four hours at Thursday's extraordinary meeting convincing two directors from France's Renault SA to agree with the dismissal of Carlos Ghosn from the posts of representative director and chairman, according to sources.
The meeting was held in the aftermath of Ghosn's arrest on suspicion of falsifying his remuneration on the company's securities reports.
The meeting started at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday with five Japanese directors including President Hiroto Saikawa in an executive boardroom near the top of the company's 22-story headquarters building in Yokohama, while Bernard Rey and Jean-Baptiste Duzan from Renault participated by teleconference from Paris.
Rey and Duzan asked questions one after another, asking for more information and facts, including questions about judicial procedures in Japan.
In France, the media has been speculating that there was a possible "conspiracy" to allow Nissan to dispel Ghosn, who is said to have spearheaded the merger of Nissan and Renault.
Nissan was concerned that if the two directors opposed Ghosn's dismissal, it could spread an impression that the company had entrapped Ghosn.
Yet the mood changed at the meeting as the methods of the alleged misconduct, such as significantly understating his remuneration on securities reports and misusing company funds for personal purposes were explained in detail.
"Only a handful of persons went to get a vein of gold. I can't imagine it's possible to do these things," said one of the Japanese directors who was very surprised at the details, which were beyond their imagination.
When Saikawa proceeded with a vote for dismissing Ghosn, the two from Renault said, "Agree," which resulted in the board's unanimous decision on the dismissal.
After the board meeting, a Nissan executive explained that the two directors "were convinced that it is not a conspiracy. They clearly chose to agree," expressing a relieved look.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
