Michael Christopher Woodford

For other people named Michael Woodford, see Michael Woodford (disambiguation).

Michael Christopher Woodford
MBE
Born
Michael Christopher Woodford

(1960-06-12) 12 June 1960 (age 64)
Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England[1]
NationalityEnglish
Alma materMillbank College of Commerce
Known forExposing the Olympus scandal

Michael Christopher Woodford, MBE (born 12 June 1960) is an English businessman who was formerly president and COO (April 2011) and CEO (October 2011) of Japan-based optics and reprography products manufacturer Olympus Corporation.[2]

Joining Olympus in 1981 and rising to manage its European operations, Woodford was the first non-Japanese person to be appointed as the company's CEO in October 2011,[3] having "exceeded expectations" as president and chief operating officer for the previous six months.[4] Within two months, he became a central figure in exposing the Olympus scandal, having been removed from his position after serving two weeks, when he persisted in questioning fees in excess of US$1 billion that Olympus had paid to obscure companies, which appeared to have been used to hide old losses and to have connections to organised crime. The scandal rocked Japanese corporate governance, led to the resignation of the entire Olympus board and several arrests of senior executives, including the previous CEO and chairman, and the company's former auditor and bankers among others, and made Woodford one of the most highly placed executives to turn whistleblower.[5] By 2012 the scandal he exposed had developed into one of the biggest and longest-lived loss-concealing financial scandals in the history of corporate Japan.[6][7]

His stance in the scandal, in which he understood his life was at risk due to the criminal organisation connections of some of the suspect monies he had questioned,[8][9][10][11] earned him several awards for "Businessperson of the Year".[8]

Following a settlement for defamation and wrongful dismissal by Olympus, Woodford now consults on corporate governance worldwide, speaks on human rights, whistleblower laws and road safety. He also undertakes philanthropy, and has stated he has given several millions of pounds to charities.[8] In November 2012 Woodford published a book about the Olympus scandal,[12] and a film was also underway.[8]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference times was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Board of Directors, Corporate Auditors and Executive Officers" (PDF). Olympus Corporation. 29 June 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
  3. ^ "Olympus chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa quits amid scandal". BBC News. 26 October 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  4. ^ "Michael Woodford - President and Chief Executive Officer". www.webcitation.org. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  5. ^ Curwen, Lesley (15 November 2011). "Former Olympus boss Woodford blows whistle on company". BBC News. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  6. ^ "Olympus President: Will Do Utmost To Avoid Delisting" (subscription). The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones. 7 November 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2011. "Takayama said that former chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, auditor Hideo Yamada and Executive Vice President Hisashi Mori were mainly responsible for attempts to cover up the losses. Takayama, who claims he was unaware of the cover-up scheme until he was briefed by Mori late Tuesday, said the company may consider filing a criminal complaint against Kikukawa and Mori depending on the outcome of a third-party panel investigation into the acquisitions. Olympus said separately Tuesday that Mori would be relieved of his post."
  7. ^ Neate, Rupert (8 June 2012). "Former Olympus chief gets £10m payoff". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  8. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference japantodayinterview was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Russell, Jonathan (23 October 2011). "Huge Olympus fees have 'underworld links'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 November 2011.
  10. ^ Soble, Jonathan (29 September 2011). "Olympus used takeover fees to hide losses". Financial Times. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  11. ^ Jim Armitage (23 December 2011). "Michael Woodford: Unbowed despite the death threats". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013.
  12. ^ book info on Penguin Books site.