Fired CEO wants Olympus to come clean; plans to attend board meeting

What is his intention or goal? 1) clean up Japanese companies, encourage fair governance 2) clean up Olympus because he realized it would come out someday and he had no intention of being arrested years later for covering it up? 3) pure retribution? Avengence

at least have the dignity. yes. when you are caught with a fistful of cookies from the cookie jar - come on - fess up

This guy is becoming real annoying, Olympus may contact the yakuza for a new target ahaha :P

I do hope nothing happens to this Woodford guy, the yakuza jokes may end up not being jokes after all there at Olympus.

So ... he has been re-hired by Olympus. Yay.

Question now is: what will be his priorities, to lead Olympus to recovery, or on the coverup?

I don't think Olympus will get some help in dealing with Woodford, specially now that the international market is closely watching.

Woodford, who returned to Japan on Wednesday after being fired last month, has said he hopes to attend a Friday board meeting of Olympus

Correction, he was not fired, just removed from the CEO position, he still works for Olympus and is on the board of directors, unless he quits only the shareholders could remove him.

"Please now have the dignity, at least the dignity, to accept that the game is up."

You have to admire the robust pointedness of his words--much better than the average bland CEO-speak.

I can't wait to see if this drama turns into a piteous tragedy or a farcical comedy.

Should be an interesting board meeting tomorrow.

"This isn't going to go away, the truth will come out," he said. "Please now have the dignity, at least the dignity, to accept that the game is up."

These words, I'm pretty sure, have fallen on deaf ears. That's like asking Japan to admit defeat. Those Oyaji executives believe they OWN Olympus, not the shareholders. It's a sad and pitiful sight to see. Some old men, unable to walk into the light because of their pride.

They will never tell the truth, even in front of all the men and women who work for Olympus. These old men will destroy countless lives before admitting that they covered up a great number of things.

It's up to the shareholders to remove these old men from their offices before it's all gone. Someone will step forward to infuse the company with capital and resources to continue the Olympus name. The products are good and so is their medical equipment. The company is still viable. Just call maintenance to come up and change the locks.

come on shareholders - grow some.

Should be an interesting board meeting tomorrow.

Something tells me that there isn't going to be a meeting tomorrow, or at least if there is one, he wont be present for what ever reason.

If he does attend and get in to the room where the meeting is held I would love to be a fly on the wall there and hear what goes on.

There's no way Mr Woodfood has any great future in Olympus.

He is just trying to save face himself and being selfish again.

He has enough haters from his own work at Olympus in the last several years.

No way Mr Woodfood.

Get someone else who's more trustworthy and not greedy if you want major reform.

It's predictable the unquestioned support that there is from some quarters maybe from other belittled foreigners when they know very little about the man or company.

Anglootaku, what an asinine remark!

I hope they record it and put it on YouTube -- I can DEFINITELY see the same kind of reaction as the guys who stormed out of a meeting with Fukushima residents after saying the people of Fukushima have less rights than others, and that they refused to test the urine of the people there.

Woodward, if allowed, will ask direct questions, which the board will do their best to answer in vagueries, but he'll ask again and ensure they either run away looking like fools or must admit to certain truths. My guess is we'll hear a lot of: "I don't remember that, but something may have occurred, yes" and, "I cannot answer this question", on top of all the bowing and 'moushiwake arimasen's.

Mr. Woodford, if you must go to the board meeting, please wear a kelvar vest strong enough to prevent stabbing with a long sharp knife, and employ your own body guards. Do not rely on protection from the police, far less from other Olympus employees.

just exactly how is this man saving face and being selfish? think about what he has done. blown the lid off corruption and selfisness. he is brave and i for one thank him. if this crap had gone, on who knows what the company would look like down the road?????? the shareholders could have lost everything, the employees and customers as well.

So, which old geezer is going to be rushed to the hospital tomorrow??

Just come clean, put Kikukawa and his cronies in jail, pretend to arrest the yaks who were involved, put Woodford back in charge and go after the next j company! Lord knows there are enough of them doing the same crap!

i think he misses the salary

It is my humble opinion that those who criticize and condemn Mr Woodford approve of corruption and criminal management of Japanese corporations. If this is how Japanese wish to do business then it is their right. It is also the right of the rest of the world to delist corrupt businesses and ban them from doing business outside of Japan.

@Rosey It's called sarcasm.. lighten up will you ^_^

Should be an interesting board meeting tomorrow.

Smartacus -- not really. Since there are no outside directors and no requirements in Japan to prepare minutes for publication to share holders, it is likely they will adjorn the meeting very quickly and Woodford will never even speak. And the company probably already has a statement drafted to release saying that because of the on-going investigations, both internal and the ones by various authorities, they could not discuss it at the meeting. We're talking about Japan and the same guys who canned him a month ago.

What don't some people understand? He was never fired, so has never been re-hired; he still receives his salary as a director of Olympus, no factories have closed down, products are still being sold...

Some of you may remember my post last week suggesting the possibility that this has all been a carefully orchestrated power play by Mr. Woodford. I'm not saying this is necessarily the case, but I will say that I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of the year, Mr. Woodford is Chairman and CEO, and has his own hand-picked board of directors installed.

The former chief executive of Olympus Corp

It is my humble opinion that those who criticize and condemn Mr Woodford approve of corruption and criminal management of Japanese corporations. If this is how Japanese wish to do business then it is their right. It is also the right of the rest of the world to delist corrupt businesses and ban them from doing business outside of Japan.

Exactly, you are right on!! Foreign companies and foreginers never have a same chance to play a fair game in Japan. That's the reason I was strongly against Japan joining TPP. It is just a joke. Leave Japan alone before we get screwed a big time. Japan is filled with someone like anglootaku. They want to live in corruption and social injustice. Shame.

I have a heart felt advice for Mr. Woodford. Disown Olympus and move on for a better future in dignity.

anglootakuNov. 24, 2011 - 01:45PM JST

This guy is becoming real annoying, Olympus may contact the yakuza for a new target ahaha :P

anglootakuNov. 24, 2011 - 10:17PM JST

@Rosey It's called sarcasm.. lighten up will you ^_^

No, anglootaku. I call it a HATE. You are an example of Japanese mainstream against foreigners.

Nigelboy, please give us the correct details regarding this. You informed us that he was sacked for not working hard enough. Do you ea humble pie? Nah!!!

If the possibility examined by John Becker were a reality, then current board members would surely know. They would know that Mr. Woodford had prior access to the information that he subsequently publicised upon his appointment as CEO, and they would also know if Mr. Woodford had used that prior knowledge to facilitate his promotion. But if this were the case, and the board members were aware that Mr. Woodford's motives were self-serving, would he be likely to step into the board room now and, far less, step out of it?

@timtak: Let's say he gained knowledge of the financial irregularities upon his appointment as CEO. Or even slightly before. The board was certainly comfortable with him knowing, or he never would have been told and never would have been made CEO. The only thing that would have come as a surprise to the board was Mr. Woodford taking the actions he took. They essentially handed him a loaded gun and were shocked when he fired it at them.