The Rise and Fall of Carlos Ghosn: Part 4

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.

In the final episode of a special, four-part series, host Curt Nickisch hears Carlos Ghosn’s side of the story and examines whether system failures contributed to his downfall. Who gave him this extraordinary power to run two global companies on different continents? What role did the corporate governance systems at Nissan and Renault play? What can we learn from his story?

NOTE: If you haven’t listened to the first, second, or third episodes yet, we recommend you start there. The series begins with episode 800 of the HBR IdeaCast podcast.

These episodes ask how Carlos Ghosn went from being one of the world’s most admired CEOs to a fugitive from criminal charges in Japan. What went right — and wrong — during his time leading Nissan and Renault? And what can we learn from it?

This special series is inspired and informed by the new book Collision Course: Carlos Ghosn and the Culture Wars that Upended an Auto Empire.

This episode was produced by Anne Saini. Contributing reporting from Tokyo by Collision Course coauthors Hans Greimel and William Sposato.

Editing by Scott Berinato, Maureen Hoch, and Adi Ignatius. Sound engineering by Tim Skoog. The team includes Sally Ashworth, Adam Buchholz, Rob Eckhardt, Ramsey Khabbaz, Scott LaPierre, Christine Liu, Melinda Merino, and Karen Player.