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Friend or foe? Corporate scandals and foreign attempts to restructure Japan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Peter McGill
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Abstract

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Ever since the thwarted bid by T. Boone Pickens to obtain seats on the board of Koito Manufacturing, the activities of foreign investors in Japan, and of foreign CEOs of Japanese companies, have generated controversy. Foreign assertions of noble intentions are often distrusted by Japanese, while frustrations voiced by Pickens in 1989 are still keenly felt today.

Keywords

Corporate scandalrestructuringgovernancecorporate raidergreenmailsokaiyayakuzashareholder democracyasset bubblekeiretsutobashiprivate equityactivist investorMinamataChissoKoitoToyotaT Boone PickensWatanabe KitaroMazdaFordCarlos GhosnNissanRenault
Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 19 , Issue 14 , July 2021 , e5
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2021

References

Notes

1 ‘T. Boone Pickens and Corporate Governance in Japan: A Retrospective View of Three Sides of the Story and Recent Developments’ in 27 Law Japan 27 (2001)

2 ‘T. Boone's Bone to Pick,‘ in The International Economy, Sept/Oct 1989.

3 ‘The Heck With Japanese Business – Texas Entrepreneur Not Interested In Competing In A Cartel System’, Washington Post, 9 June 1991

4 ‘Big Stake In Koito To Be Sold,‘ New York Times, 2 Aug. 1991

5 The richest man in the world in 1991, according to Forbes, was Mori Taikichiro, the co-founder of Moti Building, with about $15 billion. In second place was Tsutsumi Yoshiaki, who owned 40% of Kokudo Kaihatsu, and had an estimated fortune of $14 billion.

6 ‘Mob boss held over real estate fraud,‘ Japan Times, 21 May 2001

7 ‘Japan Offers US Manchukuo Share,‘ New York Times, 13 March 1938

8 ‘Saving the Business Without Losing the Company,‘ Carlos Ghosn, Harvard Business Review, January 2002

9 ‘The Carlos Ghosn Controversy and Japanese Corporate Governance,‘ Harvard University US-Japan Relations panel discussion, 15 March 2021

10 The Shinsei and Aozora section is mostly drawn from ‘Floundering foreign banks face questions over strategy,‘ Peter McGill, Asiamoney, October 2009

11 The Cerberus and Seibu section is mostly drawn from ‘Cerberus enters the Lions’ den,' Peter McGill, Euromoney, June 2013

12 ‘Olympus Scandal Exposes the Shortcomings of the Japanese Media,‘ Yamaguchi Yoshimasa, Nippon.com, 16 Jan. 2012

13 ‘Olympus Q&A,‘ Jonathan Soble, Financial Times, 10 Nov. 2011

14 ‘Olympus fraud reflects poorly on Japan's governance,‘ Peter McGill, Asiamoney, December 2011/January 2012

15 KeyMed v Hillman & Woodford judgment, 11 March 2019; [2019] EWHC 485 (Ch)

16 Bates et al v Post Office Ltd. Judgment (No.6) “Horizon Issues”, 16 December 2019; [2019] EWHC 3408 (QB)

17 Bates et al v Post Office Ltd. Appendix 2, Summary of Bugs, Errors, Defects, Judgment (No.6) “Horizon Issues”, 16 December 2019; [2019] EWHC 3408 (QB)

18 Greed & Fear, Christopher Wood, 17 June 2021

19 ‘The inflammatory Toshiba report may finally change corporate Japan,‘ Leo Lewis, Financial Times, 13 June 2021

20 ‘The AA in a danse macabre with private equity partners,‘ Kate Burgess, Financial Times, 24 Sept. 2020