Carlos GHOSN

Nissan CEO

GHOSN, Carlos
Born: March 9, 1954
Birthplace: Porto Velho, Brazil
Early life: Raised in Lebanon, educated in
Paris
Occupation: Chairman and CEO of Renault,
Nissan, and Renault-Nissan Alliance

Career Highlights
Spent 18 years at Michelin,
becoming COO and then CEO
1996: Became Executive Vice
President of an ailing Renault and
was able to make it profitable again
1999: Formed the Nissan-Renault
Alliance
2000-2001: Became Nissan COO
and then president and then CEO
2005: Became president and CEO of
Renault
2008: Chairman, president, and
CEO of Nissan
2013: Chairman of Russian auto
company AvtoVAZ

Nissan Revival Plan:

Cut down 21,000 jobs
Shut down 5 Japanese plants
Reduced number of suppliers and
shareholdings
Auctioned off prized assets
Eliminated seniority and age-based
promotion
Dismantled Nissans Keiretsu
system
Changed official company
language from Japanese to English
Included executives from Europe
and North America in key global
strategy sessions

12 months into the program, Ghosn made Nissan

profitable again

Leaders of the future will also need to have a lot more empathy and
sensitivitynot just for people from their own countries, but also for
people from different countries and cultures. They are going to need
global empathy, which is a lot more difficult.

The key: no one leader should try to impose his/her culture on

another person who was not ready to try the culture with an open
mind and heart.

Ghosns Values
Diversity: in accepting and
building on the strengths of the
different cultures, all employees,
including himself would be given
a chance to grow personally
through the consideration of
different perspectives
Listening: Ghosn requires that
employees embrace debate

TRIVIA
Has a comic book series in Japan based
on his life story titled The True Story of
Carlos Ghosn
Has a Japanese bento box named after
him
Speaks French, Portuguese, English, and
Arabic fluently
Nicknames include:
Le Cost Killer (Renault)
Mr. Fix-It (Nissan)
Seven-Eleven
Keiretsu Killer