Woodford to sue Olympus over firing, drops leadership bid

Woodford to sue Olympus over firing, drops leadership bid

uk.reuters.com

The scandal at the 92-year-old firm revived concerns about lax corporate governance at Japanese companies generally and sparked speculation that organised crime syndicates were involved in the cover-up.Woodford, who had described his experience after blowing the whistle at Olympus as resembling a John Grisham thriller novel, said he was discussing a book deal of his own.

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Mod Edit: Review This Link: Breaking Alternative News Guidelines -- Copy the Exact Headline

Woodford had no choice in the matter , he opened one mighty can of financial worms , none of it his doing , and now he is in fear of retaliation from Japanese crime syndicates
Woodford, who fled to England after his sacking citing unspecified safety concerns, said the trauma suffered by his wife after he went public with his campaign played a major part in his decision to drop his bid to return to Olympus.

"It's been a frightening period for my wife. I cannot put her through any more anguish," he said in his statement explaining why he was abandoning his battle to be reinstated.

He has in one sense become a human Wikileaks , you can count on one hand whistleblowers who have discovered the truth regarding such a big corp as Olympus.

uk.reuters.com
(visit the link for the full news article)



The ninja's will be calling

I wonder if you might be able to shed some light on an aspect of your story here that leaves me a bit confused. I read the article..twice, actually..because this detail made no sense. It says he was hired in as CEO and then fired back out after a whopping 14 DAY tenure. What exactly did he DO in such a short time to be outright fired as the top guy? I mean...it seems he'd still be learning the basics and getting a feel for things in his first 2 weeks in a new position...? Did he walk into this with enough knowledge in advance to start rocking the boat and kicking butts right from day 1?

Sorry if I missed something obvious which explains that. It is late and I'm tired..but the story seems to really matter for the length of time they suggest the fraud has been going on. That is staggering..and how many more like them are pulling the same games but haven't been caught yet? Thanks in advance.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000



Read the first line:

"The ousted British CEO of Olympus Corp, who blew the whistle on a $1.7 billion (1.0 billion pounds) accounting fraud, dropped his bid to return to the medical device make".


He found accounting fraud. I once temped at a privately held Japanese company. It was one of the worst accounting departments I have EVER been in. It was scary red flag bad.

If it was like Enron, it probably wasn't too hard to find out. In your first few weeks you start to analyze statements and ask questions.

reply to post by Daughter2

True... I got that part, but this is what I'm referring to:

The decision by Woodford, who was fired in October after just two weeks as chief executive, leaves foreign shareholders who want a new slate of directors, including U.S. fund manager Southeastern Asset Management, without a champion to lead any proxy battle when the company convenes an extraordinary shareholders meeting as early as March.

You said you worked at one with bad accounting. Is it so obvious that it could have an honest man who came in as CEO seeing the problems and saying something that quickly?

If he's not accurate, I can see a perfectly reasonable motive in being disgruntled....so say the very least.

If he is accurate, well...I can understand why so many different agencies are suddenly interested. One scandal like this tied back into the Yakuza could spread and lead to much more on the corporate side of things. Just what we need at this moment in the financial world....is that what this is suggesting?

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


www.guardian.co.uk...

en.wikipedia.org...(executive)

The guy worked for Olympus for 30 years , working his way up the company ladder.