Nissan is cutting 9% of its jobs worldwide. Meet the company's disgraced former chairman, who is facing charges of financial misconduct and was freed from jail in April on $4.5 million bail

Meira Gebel

July 25, 2019 4:29 PM

AP Photo/Francois Mori

Ghosn started at Nissan in 1999, when "The Alliance" was formed — where Renault and Nissan each had a stake in the other. In 2016, Mitsubishi joined. The three act as separate entities, while also identifying as a global grouping.

Carlos Ghosn , 64, amassed a $120 million net worth while he was the head-ranking official at the Nissan -Renault- Mitsubishi Motors automotive alliance over the past two decades.
In November 2018, the former CEO was accused of misreporting his salary and compensation .
Nissan is now struggling. The automaker's first-quarter profits are down 98.5% from last year and it will cut at least 12,500 jobs by March 2023, The New York Times reported on July 25.

Nissan is struggling. The automaker announced July 24 that its first-quarter profits were down 98.5% from last year and that it will cut at least 12,500 jobs, The New York Times reported.

Carlos Ghosn's rise as chairman of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance took years. His fall? Quicker, and greater, than any other industry executive with his caliber.

For a long time, he was known as the man who was able to usher in a new era of profitability and relevance to the automakers he helmed. Yet, to Japanese persecutors, he hidhis earnings from regulators for years and used company funds to further decorate his lavish lifestyle.

On November 19, 2018, Ghosn was arrested, and in April 2019, he was released from a Japanese prison on a $4.5 million bail, Business Insider previously reported.

Prosecutors in Japan have alleged that Ghosn earned a salary of about 10 billion yen, or $88.7 million, from 2011 to 2015 but reported only half of that. Ghosn, 64, could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to 10 million yen if found to have committed any wrongdoing.

Keep reading to learn more about the rise and downfall of Carlos Ghosn.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider