Woodford wants to clean up Olympus management for good

Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, who was behind Woodford’s appointment as chief executive and later his firing, has since resigned as chairman. He is among several executives suspected of knowing about the scheme.

Suspected!!!!!!!!!

While I'm all for Woodford it seems he's made the mistake of quitting the company thinking he could do a proxy takeover but now realized that would destroy the company and now scrambling to stay in the picture.

@gogogo : agreed, better Woodford should say 'sayonara' not only to Olympus but to Japan (forever).

Now it's too late for regrets Mr. Woodford, the damage is already done.

Woodford has worked for this company his whole career. While he would have been paid pretty well in recent years, he probably does need a job, whether with Olympus or somewhere else. He has made it clear that he wants Olympus to remain as an independent company, with new capital coming from sources other than strategic investors or competitors which would jeopardise this independence. Under that scenario, with the backing of shareholders and employees and without the encumbrance of the discredited board, he would like to be involved. That may or may not happen. But it is astonishing to read some of the vitriolic and ignorant comments about him on JT recently. I can only repeat one of my first comments from two months ago (actually it was this Olympus story which inspired me to sign up to comment on JT): Woodford is the absolute hero of this story. To date, he has been the only current or former member of Olympus management who has been acting in the interests of the company.

Woodfords right the Olympus management is being naive. Tie ups require you spread your resources with the partner. Who would spread their cash with Olympus unless a company with a lot of spare cash? Any company with so much spare cash in a poor trading environment will just want to take the good parts and dump the rest.

"Olympus appointed three outsiders to a new reform committee to beef up governance and present a plan to shareholders." ?? I wonder if these three belong to the same club as the rest.

This is like reading a book. Put Woodford in, get rid of the old Japanese guys, promote people base don skill, not age, kill the competition, show Japan how it should be done...

The Olympus fiasco has prompted soul-searching in Japan Inc. on living up to global standards

Nonsense. All it has prompted is Japan Inc. circling the wagons because they know that opening themselves up to real scrutiny could not come at a worse time, as the country is still trying to pull out of over two decades of stagnation, as well as now trying to re-build from the Tohoku disaster. The meeting between the political leaders and Woodford was just for show, since politicians in Japan draft no actual legislation, the bureaucrats do. And the bureaucrats are very much in the pocket of Japan Inc. If anything, this will result in Japan Inc. allowing fewer outsiders into the top ranks and finding additional ways to look and sound serious about governance, but having no real effect.

Sadly herefornow, I think that sums it up nicely.

Now it's too late for regrets Mr. Woodford, the damage is already done.

issa1 -- you have been peddling that line of logic since this whole fiasco started, so please just answer me two questions. First, I did not hear Woodford express any "regrets' yesterday. What exactly do you believe he should regret? Second, how can it possibly be "damage" when he has exposed three decades of corporate fraud and turned true ownership/governance over to the real owners of the company -- the shareholders -- and taken it from a bunch of crooks, the board, who cooked the books simply to continue their careers? And please don't recite that "protecting the well-being of the workers" nonsense. In the long run, Olympus will emerge from this stronger and as a more viable company to invest in, which is in the workers' best interest. I don't hear you critisizing the crooks who put millions into these fees that otherwise could have gone to building a stronger company for the workers -- like say R&D -- just the guy who brought it to light.

@herefornow

i believe issa1 was referring to the fact that woodmeister stated recently that he wanted a proxy fight for the board, which might destroy the company, and he doesn't want the company broken up into various pieces. he has recanted the former statement after realizing that it was idiotic.

unfortunately, his direct statements and actions have led to a serious possibility that olympus will be delisted. even if they are not delisted, stock prices will remain depressed for some time.

your assumption that olympus will emerge "stronger" is predicated on your belief that they emerge at all from this turmoil. and we all know what is wrong with an assumption, right?

It seems Japan is desperate to keep going downwards. I wish Woodward well but ultimately Japan doesn't play well with others, and isn't a country worth investing in as this case clearly demonstrates.

Without clear and obvious governance eventually the corruption will be all that's left.

if indeed that isn't the case already

unfortunately, his direct statements and actions have led to a serious possibility that olympus will be delisted. even if they are not delisted, stock prices will remain depressed for some time.

your assumption that olympus will emerge "stronger" is predicated on your belief that they emerge at all from this turmoil. and we all know what is wrong with an assumption, right?

rickyvee -- fair enough. And your and issa's whole argumnet is based on the "assumption' that allowing a crooked company, with over thirty years of false accounting, going is better than the alternative. That hiding the truth from shareholders, who, let me remind you, own the company, is best for Japan's economy. The stock price should be depressed, since the earnings were fictitious. Now, investors can choose to buy or not based on the true value of the company, not some version of reality cooked up by the board. sf2k is clearly correct, and people like you and issa defending Japan's willingness to condone fraud is just going to push the country further downwards.

He promised a more transparent Olympus, with more outside board members.

Good for Mr. Woodford. Hope he will invite a few Americans on the board. Remember American investors have been investing in Olympus for years. We Americans are watching whole progress and supporting him ALL THE WAY! Too bad, there are still too many currupted Japanese corporations and most working poor Japanese salarymen have no clue what's going on. Gambare, Mr. Woodford, we Americans are all behind you.

And the bureaucrats are very much in the pocket of Japan Inc.

Agreed, herefonow. The first stop is to work on "Keidanren" and "Keiretsu" systems to go away to change Japan Inc to New Japan.. "PUS" has to come out first if working poor salarymen want to change.

Rickyvee, What planet are you living on? A proxy fight, while unwelcome, may be necessary in order to clean out the current desperate band of directors and replace them with honest qualified people. That remains the case. Woodford has not 'recanted' anything with regard to that. The possibility of delisting arises from the decades of cooked books and dodgy payments. Woodford is no more responsible for that than you or I. Playing devil's advocate may be a fun activity for after-dinner drinks etc but there are important matters at stake here. Please get serious.

@theeastisred

you really should be more well read if you're going to try to chastise me: http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/olympus-proxy-fight-must-be-avoided-woodford-tells-lawmakers

@herefornow i have never assumed nor written any of what you wrote.

Maybe he has been inspired by Fidel Castro, Stalin, Che Guevara .... oops. Bye bye, Sir. Woodford your toy is broken, it's over.

Maybe he has been inspired by Fidel Castro, Stalin, Che Guevara .... oops. Bye bye, Sir. Woodford your toy is broken, it's over.

issa1, you are for corruption, right? I have a news for you. You are at the right place filled with corruptions. Nahhhh..

@globalwatcher; what justice? Kikukawa is very close to Japanese bureaucrats and business lobby and they will protect them. Ozawa didn’t involve in any scam. That is a setup by same lobby. He only try to save Japan by changing law to balance power between bureaucrats and people. You can see how they are hiding all the Fukushima nuclear problem, even media is hiding and putting people in sick using patriotism shows. That is called scam.