This struggle for Nissan's leadership is so much more than a simple boardroom drama. The arrest of Ghosn was likely as much a political as a legal move. Japan and Japan Inc. never liked the idea that one of Japan's large corporations is really not just run by a foreigner, but a foreigner who was put there by Nissan's largest shareholder, Renault, which owns over 40% of all Nissan shares. Renault is, in turn, strongly influenced if not controlled by the government of France, which owns the single largest voting block of shareholder votes at Renault. Renault (and the French government) see a Renault-dominated Nissan-Renault alliance as crucial for the survival of Renault as a French car company. How important that alliance is can be seen in Renault's current lineup of electric cars: they all started out as Nissans, or are based on Nissan technology. Deciding to so publicly prosecuting the alledged (likely real) tax evasion by Ghosn, was the opening move by the Japanese side in this game of Go or Chess. If you don't believe that, try to find other cases where the CEO of a member of Japan Inc. was so publicly arrested and humiliated - there are few if any. The challenge for the "Japanese" side at Nissan is now that Renault does own more than 40% of Nissan. That will play out in the next shareholder vote, which is why the Nissan board tries to avoid having one any time soon.
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