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HBR IdeaCast

The Rise and Fall of Carlos Ghosn: Part 4

HBR IdeaCast

Harvard Business Review

Communication, Business/management, Economics, Strategy, Innovation, Management, Teams, Leadership, Hbr, Harvard, Marketing, Business/entrepreneurship, Business/marketing, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Business

4.31.9K Ratings

🗓️ 24 June 2021

⏱️ 35 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Suddenly powerless in Tokyo prison after his arrest, Carlos Ghosn plans an audacious escape and flees Japan while out on bail. Out of reach of Japanese authorities, the once celebrated CEO of Nissan and Renault defends his legacy as he faces new investigations by French and other authorities. This final episode of a special, four-part series features Ghosn himself and examines whether system failures contributed to his downfall. Who gave Carlos Ghosn such extraordinary power? What can we learn from his story?

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:08.1

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0:13.8

free wherever you get your podcasts. Just search New Here. See you there!

0:31.0

After his arrest, Carlos Gone was held at Coastal Gate Attention Center, a

0:35.4

concrete prison on the outskirts of Tokyo. This Uber executive was used to

0:41.6

jetting to Davos and sleeping in palatial homes in Paris, Beirut, and Rio,

0:46.4

paid for by Nissan. Now he got a cell with a hard futon paid for by the

0:51.8

Japanese government. Instead of his favorite filet mignon, he got rice, miso soup,

0:57.2

and a small portion of fish. Gone's corporate calendar used to be booked 15

1:02.4

months out. Now his bath time was limited to 15 minutes. Gone says he was

1:11.2

interrogated up to four hours a day without his lawyer's present. That's okay

1:16.4

under Japanese law when you're first charged. He did see his defense attorneys

1:20.9

regularly, and for a short time journalists could visit him. So he was wearing

1:27.0

some sport pants and a big sweater. Jan Rousseau with the French Business Newspaper

1:32.8

Les Ecos was one of the very few reporters to talk with him in prison. And he

1:38.8

had some kind of flip-flop. The one you use here in Japan when you go to

1:44.3

Onsen, you know, a public bath, because he couldn't have his nice shoes. So he

1:49.5

was like that, but he was still very classy. His hair was a little grayer and

1:54.6

messier because you know he used to put dark. He was dying his hair black to look

1:59.8

younger, so yet his hair was a bit more messy and grayer, but he was okay. He was

2:04.7

still strong. He was not complaining that much. He didn't want to talk about his

2:08.2

feelings or he wanted to jump right away into his theory. As Rousseau jotted down

...

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