Carlos Ghosn

File:Carlos Ghosn (Dunod).jpg

Carlos Ghosn (Arabic: كارلوس غصن; born March 9, 1954) is CEO of Renault and Nissan Motors. Nicknamed "Icebreaker" and "Le Cost Cutter", he is largely credited with turning Nissan around. As an outsider in charge of one of Japan's largest companies, Ghosn has been extremely successful. He was voted Man of the Year 2003 by Fortune magazine's Asian edition and is also on the board of Alcoa, Sony, and IBM. Ghosn became CEO of Renault, Nissan's parent and largest shareholder, in 2005, succeeding Louis Schweitzer, while remaining CEO of Nissan as well.

Ghosn (rhymes with "phone") was born in Brazil to Lebanese parents. He graduated with engineering degrees from the École Polytechnique in 1978 (X1974) with last year's specialisation at the École des Mines de Paris.

Career

Ghosn joined Nissan as its chief operating officer in June 1999, became its president in June 2000 and was named chief executive officer in June 2001. His turnaround of Nissan has gained him celebrity status in Japan, where he has published books and even has an animated character based on him. When he joined the company, it had a $20 billion debt and only three of its 48 models were making any profit. Ghosn claimed that it would have none in 2005. One year after he arrived, Nissan profited 2.7 billion dollars and had an operating margin of 10.6%.

Prior to joining Nissan, Ghosn had served as executive vice president of the Renault Group, a position he had held since December 1996. In addition to supervising Renault activities in the Mercosur, he was responsible for advanced research, car engineering and development, car manufacturing, powertrain operations and purchasing. He became president of Renault in April 2005.

Before he joined Renault, Ghosn had worked with Michelin for 18 years. As chairman and chief executive officer of Michelin North America, Ghosn presided over the restructuring of the company after its acquisition of the Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company in 1990. Previously, Ghosn had worked as the chief operating officer of Michelin's South American activities based in Brazil; as head of research and development for industrial tires in Ladoux, France; and as plant manager in Le Puy, France.

Kirk Kerkorian recently urged General Motors Corporation to consider a partnership with Nissan Motor Corporation and Renault. Carlos Ghosn has expressed interest in acquiring up to 20% stake in General Motors Corporation at a dinner with Kirk Kerkorian that took place around June 20th, 2006. Kerkorian is hoping to get Ghosn as CEO of General Motors, and force Rick Wagoner, GM's current CEO, out through the merger, as he believes that Ghosn is what GM needs to return to profitibility.

Miscellaneous

Ghosn was born in Porto Velho, Brazil on March 9, 1954. At age 6, he moved to Beirut, Lebanon, with his mother. He completed his secondary school studies there, in a Jesuit school (Collège Notre-Dame de Jamhour). He and his wife, Rita, have four children: Anthony (7th grade), Maya (10th grade), Nadine (12th grade), and Caroline, a junior at Stanford University.

Jacques Nasser, former CEO of Ford Motor Company from 1999 to 2001, is Lebanese as well. Ghosn considers him to be a close friend.

See Also

• Lee Iacocca, Another CEO who led a spectacular turnaround for Chrysler.

External links

• Detroit News "Nissan CEO: The making of a superstar"
• Business Week "A Spin with Carlos Ghosn"