Carlos Ghosn Seeks US$1 Billion In Latest Suit Filed Against Nissan

Latest suit by disgraced ex Nissan CEO turned fugitive Carlos Ghosn seeks over US$1 billion
in damages. (Image: Motor1)

Disgraced former Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has reportedly filed suit against his former employer in Lebanon where he is seeking over US$1 billion (approx. RM4.65 billion) in compensation.

Ghosn’s latest suit sees him accusing the Japanese automaker, two other companies, and a further 12 individuals of defamation and fabricating evidence. Altogether, he seeks US$558 million (RM2.594 billion) in lost compensation and a further US$500 million (RM2.324 billion) in punitive damages.

A fairly recent photo of Ghosn snapped circa May 2021 where he was seen travelling about with a bodyguard in Beirut, Lebanon. (Image: AP Images)

If you’ve not followed Ghosn’s saga, we’ll bring you up to speed. The Brazil-born French national of Lebanese decent was arrested by Japanese authorities in late 2018 following accusations by Nissan – a company Ghosn led at the time – of underreporting his compensation and financial misconduct.

Ghosn denied these allegations and maintained his innocence, enduring stints both in prison and house arrest in between court appearances. Ghosn then hired an American private security specialist to engineer his escape from Japan in late 2019 by smuggling him out in an oversized music instrument case.

Since his great escape, which saw private jets chartered for the ‘operation’, Ghosn lives as an exiled fugitive in his native family home of Lebanon. He also hasn’t been shy to criticize his former Japanese employers since, even calling the Renault-Nissan alliance “small and fragile” last year.

Yes, this is quite the fall from grace for the super-exec once lauded for saving ailing Renault through a bold restructuring plan in 1996. Part of that too was the formation of the Nissan-Renault cost-cutting partnership in 1999, which ultimately led to Ghosn’s entry into Nissan as COO that same year.

Ghosn applied his infamous and merciless restructuring at Nissan too, which finally brought the company back to profitability. Ghosn was eventually promoted up to the level of CEO in 2001 and effectively led both Nissan and Renault, as well as Mitsubishi when it joined the alliance in 2017, until his 2018 arrest.

Though ousted and gone for some time, Ghosn remains a problem for former employers Nissan.
(Image: Carscoops)

Though gone from Nissan for several years already, Ghosn still causes headaches for the company. Last year, Japanese Financial Services Agency levied a 200-million yen (RM6.56 million) fine against the automaker for Ghosn’s alleged improprieties reported in 2018.

Surely, Ghosn’s new lawsuit will certainly draw out any legal proceedings between him and Nissan for years to come. Both the former super-exec turned fugitive and his former employers show no sign of doubling down from this fight just yet, and it remains unclear how this latest suit will pan out for either.