Renault-Nissan considered secret Ghosn payment plan, email shows

As a power struggle between Renault and Nissan Motor intensifies over governance at the car-making alliance, new information is emerging about how jailed leader Carlos Ghosn allegedly tried to shield the scale of his compensation from the public eye.

Executives at the French and Japanese automakers considered a plan in 2010 to pay some of Ghosn’s compensation through Renault-Nissan BV, the Dutch holding company that runs their alliance, “without disclosing it publicly,” according to an email seen by Bloomberg News. In the message from Nissan director Greg Kelly, who is being held alongside Ghosn in a Tokyo prison, he said the method carried “some legal risk.”

Ghosn and Kelly were indicted in Japan last week on allegations the car titan under-reported his income at Nissan over a number of years. A Tokyo court on Thursday refused a bid by prosecutors to prolong their detention, raising the chances that both could be released on bail as soon as Friday to await trial.


Ghosn’s arrest came after a months-long investigation by Nissan that it didn’t share with its French partner in the world’s biggest auto alliance. His downfall has thrown the two-decade partnership into disarray, creating a climate of suspicion between the companies and fueling uncertainty over how they can continue to work together.

The scuppered 2010 plan and the correspondence around it was first reported by French newspaper Les Echos. A spokesman for Renault said that Kelly consulted Renault and Nissan executives on the legality of paying Ghosn through Renault-Nissan BV and that Renault told Kelly any remuneration from the company would have to be made public in France. The plan was never implemented, to the company’s knowledge, the spokesman said. Nissan and a lawyer for Ghosn declined to comment. The email in question was part of a discussion in which other individuals were considering payment to Ghosn through Renault-Nissan BV in a way that was legally appropriate, a lawyer for Kelly said.