Carlos Ghosn is the Brazilian-born French-Lebanese CEO of Nissan Motor. Nicknamed "Le Cost Cutter", he is largely credited with turning Nissan around. As an outsider in charge of one of Japan's largest companies, he has been extremely successful. He was voted Man of the Year 2003 by Fortune magazine's Asian edition. He is also on the board of Renault, Alcoa, Sony, and IBM and will become CEO of Renault, Nissan's parent and largest shareholder, in 2005.
Mr. Ghosn joined Nissan as its chief operating officer in June 1999, became its president in June 2000 and was named chief executive officer in June 2001. His turnaround of Nissan has gained him celebrity status in Japan, where he has published books and even has an animated character based on him.
Prior to joining Nissan, Mr. Ghosn served as executive vice president of the Renault Group, a position he had held since December 1996. In addition to supervising Renault activities in the Mercosur, he was responsible for advanced research, car engineering and development, car manufacturing, powertrain operations and purchasing.
Before he joined Renault, Mr. Ghosn had worked with Michelin for 18 years. As chairman and chief executive officer of Michelin North America, Mr. Ghosn presided over the restructuring of the company after its acquisition of the Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company in 1990. Previously, Mr. Ghosn had worked as the chief operating officer of Michelin's South American activities based in Brazil; as head of research and development for industrial tires in Ladoux, France; and as plant manager in Le Puy, France.
Mr. Ghosn was born in Brazil on March 9, 1954. He graduated with engineering degrees from the École Polytechnique in 1974 and from the École des Mines de Paris in 1978. He and his wife, Rita, have four children.
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