Reinventing the Millennium

Woodford, who was previously Olympus's head of Europe, has only been fired as CEO for less than a year, which is bound to have a huge impact on the company's stock price.

This shows that the conflict between him and the board of directors has become so acute that it is irreconcilable.

However, Fang Zhuo likes to see this.

Contradictions need to be broken, and things need to be resolved. We firmly encourage and support Woodford's counterattack.

On September 17, Woodford, who originally wanted to return to the UK, accepted the invitation from the Wall Street Journal and decided to come to New York to announce everything he knew to the media around the world.

Just as Woodford boarded the plane from Tokyo to New York, Fangzhuo took a private plane back to New York, intending to experience the atmosphere of the incident up close.

However, the Olympus uprising occurred slightly earlier than expected, which made Kong Yu quite anxious. His investigation work had not been completed yet. Are there any other Japanese counterfeiting companies that have slipped through the net?

Can it be possible to alert the enemy with just a few of them?

Fang Zhuo felt this emotion and gave a response: "It's just about making more money and making less money. Whether it's Toshiba or Sony, or Nikon or Panasonic, their own situation is already very bad."

How bad is it...

I originally thought that Sony, led by Stringer, had an unparalleled loss of US$7 billion. Now, the news confirmed by the side is that Panasonic's loss figure this year may be higher than this.

Sony can still understand that with Stringer leading the way and himself advising on the side, this Panasonic... you, this Panasonic...

It can only be said that this is the epitome of the current operating conditions of Japanese companies.

It is precisely because of the decline in their competitiveness that they have to engage in financial and product fraud on a larger scale.

Fangzhuo spoke with Stringer on the phone in the afternoon after arriving in New York and asked Sony if it had found an effective way to reverse the situation.

"Hahaha, Mr. Fang, are you kidding..." Stringer's voice sounded like he was completely open-minded after having no choice but to do anything.

Fang Zhuo expressed his joy and talked a little about the work of the charitable foundation established in New York.

Stringer's enthusiasm for this may be stronger than that of Sony's affairs. Currently, things are out of control within Sony. The group's financial situation cannot be handled this year, and the local direct lineage has once again reared its head.

Even though he had carried out Western-style reforms to the board of directors before, no matter how he changed it, the huge middle and senior management still had to rely on performance to speak, not to mention that the shareholders' meeting was also the final check and balance.

What Stringer is now considering is whether he can get a more moderate evaluation after resigning at the end of the year or next year. Based on this situation, he is already selecting the next CEO for Sony, hoping that this CEO can speak for him.

He talked about this issue on the phone and thought that Hirai Kazuo might be able to push it forward.

Although Kazuo Hirai is Japanese, he used to work in the United States and is a member of Stringer's own side. I believe he can be lenient.

"Old Sir, are you going to make the same mistake again and again?" Fang Zhuo's tone became stern.

Stringer had previously considered promoting Kazuo Hirai to the position of president of Sony Computer Entertainment SCE. At that time, there were two alternatives, Yoshihisa Ishida and Kuni Suzuki.

Fang Zhuo gave his opinion at the time. Sony SCE was very important. Ken Kutaragi had just been expelled. Those like Kazuo Hirai who had no engineering resume and no technical genes should be eliminated first.

In the end, Stringer chose Ishida Yoshihisa.

Just look at Stringer to understand how important a corporate leader is. Kazuo Hirai is the real master of Sony's renaissance. Since he missed it last time, don't let him appear at the forefront this time.

Fang Zhuo played his role as an outside director and criticized: "Old Sir, I'm not talking about you. The reason Sony is where it is now is precisely because of your insensitivity to the technical field. Even you are like this. The Sony whirlpool will follow. Are we still going to let Kazuo Hirai, who lacks technical background, get involved?”

"No matter how I put the blame on Nobuyuki Idei before you in front of the media, you are still to blame for its current situation. Now that you are leaving, you should do your best to get Sony back on track."

"Forcing Hirai to push forward will only lead Sony into an even more chaotic situation."

"Do you really want to see Sony go bankrupt?"

Fang Zhuo is not talking nonsense. Kazuo Hirai did not get the position of SCE president last time. His current qualifications and identity are obviously flawed in the selection of CEO. Sony has already made a mistake with Stringer. Is it necessary to push it again? Kazuo Hirai, who has a technical background, takes over?

Is this reasonable?

Should this be done?

Stringer was silent for a long time. Alas, that's all. Although Mr. Fang is very selfish, what he said makes sense. In the end, he will always leave a legacy for Sony.

"By the way, I heard that Panasonic will lose eight to nine billion US dollars this year... Hahaha, it's really unbelievable." Fang Zhuo mentioned another famous Japanese company near the end of the call, thinking that it would always comfort the old Jazz. .

Stringer also laughed, smiled, wiped his eyes, put down his phone, and fell into the long exam that often happened recently. How did he end up like this?

When the sun set and the office was enveloped in darkness, he was confused and couldn't get the answer. On the contrary, he felt that being in the position of the head of Sony was a kind of torture.

The next day, when Stringer ended another half-asleep sleep, he arrived at the company and noticed the latest news from another Japanese company.

As the head of a Japanese giant, he has always heard more or less about the recent situation of Olympus. Especially, the compatriot Woodford was abruptly fired by the board of directors...

They are compatriots, they are CEOs, they are Japanese companies, they have financial problems, they are... they are pitiful.

On September 22, Englishman Woodford held a press conference in New York to denounce Olympus for serious financial fraud and criticized the inaction of relevant Japanese departments.

At this press conference, big-name media such as the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times gathered, and they were very interested in the fraud committed by industry giants.

Although Woodford had hinted at the company's situation through the media before, it was to force the board of directors and senior management to make concessions. This time, when he was dismissed from his post without any suspense, he became outspoken.

"I hired an external third-party audit firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, to investigate Olympus's three acquisitions in the past 2006-2008, and found that they established three funds in Singapore, London and Tokyo to acquire overseas A worthless leather company then incurs huge losses and then writes off past losses and false accounts to cover it up.”

"In fact, Olympus has been speculating heavily in real estate and stock markets since the late 1980s and has incurred losses. However, they are unwilling to do so and continue to speculate while covering up. Many false accounts and payments are made through overseas Conducted at branches.”

"Olympus has concealed investment losses of at least hundreds of billions of yen in the past 20 years!"

Woodford listened to the clicking sound of reporters taking pictures, looked at the uproar in the audience, and said again: "I reported it to the relevant Japanese departments a total of 6 times, but I didn't get the slightest support, or even very little response! "

"Olympus is not just a Japanese company. 70% of its sales are in the European and American markets. It is an influential overseas company. It has an obligation to be responsible to all investors at home and abroad!"

Woodford followed up by presenting some of the evidence and the PwC audit report, successfully generating more uproar.

He was excited, sad and angry, with a hint of revenge, and said in a deep voice: "The inaction of the Olympus board of directors, senior leaders, and relevant Japanese departments not only hurts investors, but also makes the Japanese business community suffer. shame!"

A burst of flashlights flashed at the press conference, recording the former Olympus CEO's revelation of the company's financial fraud and his accusation against the relevant Japanese departments.

Furthermore, Woodford also recounted the personal humiliation he experienced over the past few months by his board of directors, colleagues, and even the Japanese media and public.

In response to this, when online reports were rapidly fermenting, the head of Yike, who was paying close attention to the progress of the incident, became angry. Woodford must not be allowed to be a lone hero!

Resolutely respond to Woodford's call and make sure the Japanese business community is shamed!