0:00:16 > 0:00:18I felt scared.
0:00:20 > 0:00:24And even telling you this now, my hands are cold and sweaty.
0:00:24 > 0:00:29Every time I tell people what happened,
0:00:29 > 0:00:33I can feel myself going back into that period.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48I went into the boardroom,
0:00:48 > 0:00:52a few minutes to nine and everyone was there.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55They were talking nervously, louder than normal.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58No-one would make eye contact with me.
0:01:00 > 0:01:04The only person who wasn't in the room was Kikukawa.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07I was feeling, you know, I'm not going to sit here
0:01:07 > 0:01:09waiting for my execution indefinitely,
0:01:09 > 0:01:12so I started looking at my watch in an exaggerated manner.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14And Mori looked over to me
0:01:14 > 0:01:17and he could see I was getting agitated,
0:01:17 > 0:01:21and said to me, "Michael, it must have been very hard for you
0:01:21 > 0:01:26"yesterday in Tohoku visiting the area where the tsunami struck."
0:01:26 > 0:01:31I felt this overwhelming sense of revulsion and disgust at the man.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34He knew what was going to happen and he would choose that subject?
0:01:34 > 0:01:36To humour me, to distract me.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40I said, "Mori." I dropped the San, the term of respect.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43"Mori, stop it, stop playing with me.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46"I know what you're going to do, get on with it."
0:01:46 > 0:01:50He was shocked and scuttled off to go and get his master.
0:01:50 > 0:01:55Who finally turned up at around 9:07 and he read out the resolution,
0:01:55 > 0:01:59the first resolution, saying that Woodford will be stripped
0:01:59 > 0:02:06of his presidency, his CEO status and as a representative director.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10And before he had finished, all the directors around the table
0:02:10 > 0:02:14put their hands up, and physically, pushing to the sky,
0:02:14 > 0:02:17and it reminded me of children in a classroom,
0:02:17 > 0:02:20and I was watching this behaviour of these men,
0:02:20 > 0:02:24some of whom I've known for 30 years, acting like that.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29In Japan, hardly anyone gets fired,
0:02:29 > 0:02:32and not least you wouldn't fire the president of the company.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35It's almost unheard of. Why were they acting like that?
0:02:35 > 0:02:38They know that I'm going to not just take this,
0:02:38 > 0:02:41so what were they scared of?
0:02:41 > 0:02:44Something more scary than me going public.
0:02:46 > 0:02:47Let's talk about Olympus.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49It is a company best known for high quality cameras.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51It is facing a potential scandal.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54The company fired its president and CEO Michael Woodford
0:02:54 > 0:02:56after he sent a letter to the company's chairman
0:02:56 > 0:03:01urging the chairman to resign over "serious governance concerns."
0:03:02 > 0:03:05CEO Michael Woodford was sacked after he questioned deals
0:03:05 > 0:03:07that he said covered up huge losses.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11They wrecked the company, by siphoning off huge amounts of money
0:03:11 > 0:03:12on all this nonsense.
0:03:22 > 0:03:27If Kikukawa believes thoroughly he is personally innocent
0:03:27 > 0:03:30and was only doing right by the company, then I think that says
0:03:30 > 0:03:34something very scary about Japan, or certainly about corporate Japan.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56The Japanese people toil to build a new nation
0:04:56 > 0:04:58under MacArthur's firm hand.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02The Japan of tomorrow is being moulded on the streets of Tokyo today.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23MUSIC: Even The Bad Times Are Good by The Tremeloes
0:10:37 > 0:10:42I was called over for a meeting with Kikukawa.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45I suspected he may be telling me who was going to be the next president.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48I didn't anticipate it would be me
0:10:48 > 0:10:51so I arrived at his office in the afternoon
0:10:51 > 0:10:55and went through a few pleasantries and almost immediately he just said,
0:10:55 > 0:10:57"Michael, I haven't been able to change this company.
0:10:57 > 0:11:02"I think from what you've done in Europe and America and elsewhere,
0:11:02 > 0:11:04"you could, and I'd like you to be the next president."
0:11:06 > 0:11:07I just said yes.
0:11:09 > 0:11:14And because I wanted to change the company, I wanted to do that.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18I met Michael for the first time just after he was appointed.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20It was a pretty obvious story for us to do.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23A British newspaper, British CEO in Japan,
0:11:23 > 0:11:25so I interviewed him at the office.
0:11:30 > 0:11:34The record of the gaijin CEO in Japan is pretty mixed anyway.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37Carlos Ghosn has probably been the most successful.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39Renault became a major shareholder of Nissan.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41He didn't need to build a power base.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44Howard Stringer, less successful.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46He was brought over from America,
0:11:46 > 0:11:49didn't have the same kind of power base and he struggled.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51With Michael, he was kind of a hybrid of the two.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53He'd been at the company long time
0:11:53 > 0:11:56so I thought that would give him some credibility.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20I think a number of managers if they were in that position
0:12:20 > 0:12:24and had the freedom to realise the potential of the medical business -
0:12:24 > 0:12:2870% market share, wonderful intellectual property.
0:12:28 > 0:12:33Olympus should be not just a good medical company,
0:12:33 > 0:12:37it should be a company which can take on the Johnson & Johnsons
0:12:37 > 0:12:40and the Covidiens, big American health care companies
0:12:40 > 0:12:43and German health care companies,
0:12:43 > 0:12:46and really use the endoscope business as a platform
0:12:46 > 0:12:49to show Japan can be an absolute leader in health care equipment.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55I think the fact that he couldn't speak Japanese
0:12:55 > 0:12:58definitely contributed to his feeling of isolation.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01And if he could speak Japanese,
0:13:01 > 0:13:04he might have got a better sense of what was waiting for him.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07I didn't, when I was made president,
0:13:07 > 0:13:11anticipate that Kikukawa would retain the CEO position,
0:13:11 > 0:13:14or create the CEO position, and if you run a company,
0:13:14 > 0:13:16you have to have clear leadership,
0:13:16 > 0:13:18and what he did, he created two heads.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21I was the president and then he had this contradiction -
0:13:21 > 0:13:22he was the Ceo.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39I was in Hamburg and I received an e-mail from a Japanese friend
0:13:39 > 0:13:43who was also a director of a leading Nikkei company.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47He wrote to me and said, "Have you seen this?"
0:13:47 > 0:13:50I didn't know what Facta was.
0:13:50 > 0:13:51I'd never heard of it.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57I was returning to Japan the following week
0:13:57 > 0:14:00so I thought I would get to understand it properly,
0:14:00 > 0:14:02get a full translation.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15I came back with an anticipation I would walk into a boardroom
0:14:15 > 0:14:19with a great tension and atmosphere.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21What was shocking to me was everything was very normal
0:14:21 > 0:14:24and mundane and people were very friendly.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27"How was your visit in Europe, Michael?"
0:14:28 > 0:14:30And I was disorientated to the extent of
0:14:30 > 0:14:35the Facta article must be something meaningless.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50I became blacker in mood as he went through it.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59Monday, the office was normality itself.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02Mundane, no-one's saying anything.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09That afternoon, I was so anxious
0:15:09 > 0:15:12I asked two colleagues who I trusted to come to my office,
0:15:12 > 0:15:15Japanese colleagues, showed them the Facta article.
0:15:15 > 0:15:20Both of them told me that they had been instructed by Kikukawa
0:15:20 > 0:15:22not to tell Mr Woodford.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25I was worried and after hearing that I was even more worried.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28Why would the chairman of the company be telling my own staff
0:15:28 > 0:15:30not to discuss things with me.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42It was himself and Mori, it was a room with a very large boardroom,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45so there was a table between us.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49I'll never forget because he'd organised
0:15:49 > 0:15:52a very large and elaborate plate of sushi, and where I was sat,
0:15:52 > 0:15:55there was a tuna sandwich, which...
0:15:55 > 0:15:57Everyone knew I loved sushi so,
0:15:57 > 0:15:59it may be something to say,
0:15:59 > 0:16:02"That's your position in the food chain, Michael.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05"You're here and we're here. Don't forget it."
0:16:05 > 0:16:08The first thing really was, "Why didn't I know?"
0:16:08 > 0:16:09And Kikukawa answered.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12"I give the instruction that this article shouldn't be brought
0:16:12 > 0:16:14"to your attention or discussed with you.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17"Because you're the president, because you're too busy,
0:16:17 > 0:16:18"you have enough to worry about."
0:16:18 > 0:16:22I challenged him and said, "I've just been to New York and Boston
0:16:22 > 0:16:26"and London and Paris to see our overseas investors and potential investors.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30"I interfaced with the Japanese shareholders and the president,
0:16:30 > 0:16:34"people likely to raise this type of question with me. Why?"
0:16:34 > 0:16:39He just...left it, and then I asked him, "Were the allegations true?"
0:16:39 > 0:16:43And he said, "Some of them."
0:16:43 > 0:16:47Mori was an intelligent man, quieter.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49I knew he would know everything.
0:16:49 > 0:16:55Said to Kikukawa, "Can I have a private meeting with Mr Mori because I need to understand?"
0:16:55 > 0:16:57He reluctantly agreed.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00I challenged and pushed him for answers,
0:17:00 > 0:17:05the Gyrus payment of 700 mills.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09He started to explain that this was to do with apreference shares
0:17:09 > 0:17:13and I said, "Well, I don't understand, we bought the company outright."
0:17:13 > 0:17:15There was no minority interest.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18He just stopped talking.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20I tried to lighten the mood slightly
0:17:20 > 0:17:24and moved onto the acquisition of these three companies.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28A mail order face cream company? Come on!
0:17:28 > 0:17:31How are we going to compete with that? A plastic plates company.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33Why would we buy a plastic plates company?
0:17:33 > 0:17:36He wasn't prepared to go any further with me.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38It was becoming clear.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42I was asking reasonable questions which were being refusing to be answered.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45I asked him who he worked for and I anticipated he would say,
0:17:45 > 0:17:49"I work for Olympus" or "I report to you, Michael."
0:17:49 > 0:17:52I will never forget his words, which were chilling.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56He looked at me and his guard came down for the first time, really.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59His anger came out.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03He looked at me right in the eye and said, "I work for Kikukawa.
0:18:03 > 0:18:05"I'm loyal to Mr Kikukawa."
0:19:35 > 0:19:36I was in New York.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40I was still drinking a lot because I wanted at night to try to sleep.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42It was like a torment.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45I don't know if you can imagine being the president
0:19:45 > 0:19:48of a large company with 45,000 employees.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50I felt this sense of responsibility
0:19:50 > 0:19:54but here were these strange things which I could not find answers for.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58It was around 3:30 New York time.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01I looked out the window, the streets were quiet.
0:20:01 > 0:20:02I didn't even turn on the lights.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05I went to my laptop, I can remember the shimmering light,
0:20:05 > 0:20:08you know, my eyes sticky and looking...
0:20:08 > 0:20:10and there was an e-mail and in that e-mail, there was
0:20:10 > 0:20:14a translation of the Facta article which had been published.
0:20:14 > 0:20:20And that article gave a lot more detail of alleged frauds
0:20:20 > 0:20:23and the term "antisocial forces", which is a euphemism,
0:20:23 > 0:20:27as we know, for organised crime, racketeering, the yakuza
0:20:27 > 0:20:30and I was scared and troubled.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35New York was waking up
0:20:35 > 0:20:38and everything was normal in New York as it always is.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41Noise from the street, yellow cabs,
0:20:41 > 0:20:43steam coming out from the pavements...
0:20:43 > 0:20:46I was thinking, "What was going on at the monolith building
0:20:46 > 0:20:48"in Shinjuku? You know, what was behind this?
0:20:48 > 0:20:50"What are these people playing at?"
0:20:54 > 0:20:57I came to the conclusion then and there that enough is enough
0:20:57 > 0:20:59and I am going to formalise my concerns
0:20:59 > 0:21:02and I'm going to write to the whole board, and then I'm going to start
0:21:02 > 0:21:06asking the questions I want answers on the terms I wanted answered.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08You know, who did we buy these companies for?
0:21:08 > 0:21:12How did we value these companies? What due diligence was done?
0:21:12 > 0:21:15Who assisted us? Who facilitated these transactions?
0:21:15 > 0:21:18I didn't want anyone finding a way out, I wanted it to be,
0:21:18 > 0:21:20"Here's the question, please answer it."
0:21:21 > 0:21:25As the letters escalated, I made it clear as I was unhappy that I would
0:21:25 > 0:21:29resign if I didn't get answers, I would go public,
0:21:29 > 0:21:31that I was resigning because of governance concerns.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42It started in the morning when I said I wanted to see...
0:21:42 > 0:21:46It doesn't change my money or terms or anything, I wanted to have...
0:21:46 > 0:21:50I said to Kikukawa, "This is a very complex, difficult situation.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52"I need the authority to deal with it."
0:21:52 > 0:21:54And Kikukawa's response was,
0:21:54 > 0:21:58"No, Michael, the Japanese shareholders wouldn't accept that."
0:21:58 > 0:22:01And I said, "Fine, I'll resign."
0:22:01 > 0:22:06He got angry, Kikukawa, and started to shout at me.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09I came right back and told him I wasn't one of his poodles.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11He has two toy poodles
0:22:11 > 0:22:14and has a screensaver with his poodles dressed up
0:22:14 > 0:22:18in their little outfits, which is common here, as you know, in Japan.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21It was understanding, really, the way he saw me.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26He actually asked me in this meeting - did I hate him?
0:22:27 > 0:22:30I was surprised he asked that question,
0:22:30 > 0:22:32and I said, "No, I didn't hate him."
0:22:39 > 0:22:42I could have been called anything, I could have been called God
0:22:42 > 0:22:45and I couldn't have done anything because a board of directors,
0:22:45 > 0:22:49would always be able to have a majority. And Kikukawa...
0:22:49 > 0:22:51May have given away his CEO,
0:22:51 > 0:22:54but he would be still pulling all the strings.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06It was on the way back that night that I decided that
0:23:06 > 0:23:08I would bring in PricewaterhouseCoopers to evidence
0:23:08 > 0:23:12the fraud related to the payment of the 700 million
0:23:12 > 0:23:14or a figure approaching that.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29It was pretty condemning and it raised a lot of questions.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34It was evident that this whole transaction needed to be
0:23:34 > 0:23:37questioned and investigated and it would potentially be illegal.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50Everything I did, I did in both languages and I sent by e-mail
0:23:50 > 0:23:55and by DHL and that was where I pleaded for them not to put
0:23:55 > 0:23:59the fact that I've was a foreigner, a gaijin, before the facts.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02I begged them not to put their personal relationships
0:24:02 > 0:24:05before what was right for the company.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27It was a very moving day - as has been the case in the days
0:24:27 > 0:24:31after the 11 March earthquake when I came back again. And...
0:24:33 > 0:24:35..somehow I got a perspective
0:24:35 > 0:24:40when I saw my colleagues clearing this paddy field to make it able
0:24:40 > 0:24:44to be used to grow rice again and you see all these fragments of...
0:24:44 > 0:24:46people's lives.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55And they said to my colleague...
0:24:57 > 0:25:00..a man of the same age as me with two children, and...
0:25:00 > 0:25:03You know, we knew each other quite well.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07Very professional. And I said, "I'm going to be fired tomorrow."
0:25:07 > 0:25:09And, erm...
0:25:09 > 0:25:11He just went quiet.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21You know, I almost knew it was pointless,
0:25:21 > 0:25:25but I wanted, ideally, to have one last attempt.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27I was never given that chance.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49I walk out of the boardroom and then my instincts are,
0:25:49 > 0:25:54I've got to get away from this country. You know, I don't know what's going on, who is involved.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57An amount of money approaching 2 billion, you know,
0:25:57 > 0:25:59bad things have happened to people for a lot less.
0:25:59 > 0:26:00So I went to the safe in my office
0:26:00 > 0:26:04and I had 1000 or something like that in yen.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06I had a picture of my family, a few personal things.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10I just wanted to get out with those things, but particularly the stamp.
0:26:10 > 0:26:15Kawamata in effect acted as the chief financial officer. Came in.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19Kawamata smiled at me. This was gratuitous.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22He was gloating.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25You know, he was enjoying this.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27First, he asked for my computers,
0:26:27 > 0:26:32he knew I had two Sony VAIO computers and he wanted them back.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35Now, those computers contained e-mails from senior executives
0:26:35 > 0:26:38of Olympus from around the world, some of which were
0:26:38 > 0:26:42very explicit in criticising senior management,
0:26:42 > 0:26:44the people who had been working and helping me.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47And I felt a huge responsibility to protect them.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50And I said, "No, you can't have them.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52"I know what you do, how you work.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54"They've gone back to London securely.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56"I will deliver the computers back to the British company
0:26:56 > 0:26:59"when they'd been forensically wiped."
0:26:59 > 0:27:01That made him angry and he said,
0:27:01 > 0:27:04"Give me your phones, you have two phones." I had the iPhone.
0:27:04 > 0:27:09I moved again towards him and I was feeling pumped up with anger
0:27:09 > 0:27:13and frustration and my first was clenched.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15I said, "My wife is worried."
0:27:15 > 0:27:18"She's going to be worried, I need to phone her."
0:27:18 > 0:27:21"Are you a policeman? Are you policeman?"
0:27:21 > 0:27:23Is he going to physically take it off me?
0:27:23 > 0:27:25And he backed off.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38I thought, "I need to go somewhere safe," so I went
0:27:38 > 0:27:42to Yoyogi Park, which is just a few minutes from my apartment.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46I again tried to remember that I needed to think carefully what
0:27:46 > 0:27:49I was doing. I felt at risk, I felt threatened.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51I wanted to see somebody quickly.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54I wanted to pass over the material I had again
0:27:54 > 0:27:57in case something happened to me.
0:27:57 > 0:28:01I saw a wire service report that Michael had been fired.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04I thought, "That's strange, surprising."
0:28:04 > 0:28:06I thought, "I should give him a call,"
0:28:06 > 0:28:10and then my phone rang and it was Michael calling me.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13He immediately said, "No, this is serious.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15"There's a lot more going on than what they said.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19"Money has disappeared, hundreds of millions of dollars has disappeared.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22"This is a big deal and I want to meet you."
0:28:22 > 0:28:25So I convinced him instead to meet me at a nearby cafe that
0:28:25 > 0:28:28I knew would be quiet and wouldn't have many people.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31I thought people might be watching him or following him.
0:28:31 > 0:28:35I got there first and I was going into shock.
0:28:35 > 0:28:40I knew that if you have shock, you give people a sweet drink, sugar,
0:28:40 > 0:28:42so I ordered an ice coffee and I remember
0:28:42 > 0:28:46pouring in a huge amount of sugar and drinking it quickly.
0:28:46 > 0:28:51You immediately could see that he had something to back this up.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53You know, this wasn't just a wild tale,
0:28:53 > 0:28:57as soon as he put the binder there and started showing me...
0:28:57 > 0:29:01We spent 45 minutes and I went through it. I said...
0:29:01 > 0:29:04"You know," To me... he asked what I wanted and I said,
0:29:04 > 0:29:07"I want this story on the front page
0:29:07 > 0:29:09"and I won't talk to any other media."
0:29:09 > 0:29:12It seemed to me that he had done a pretty thorough job
0:29:12 > 0:29:17of researching and documenting the fact that money had left
0:29:17 > 0:29:20the company and also how it had left the company
0:29:20 > 0:29:24through these phoney or inflated acquisitions.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27But the trail kind of stopped at the end of that.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30It was still unclear who got the money
0:29:30 > 0:29:32and that was the source of his fear.
0:29:32 > 0:29:34Did gangsters have it?
0:29:34 > 0:29:36Did his bosses steal it?
0:29:36 > 0:29:40That at the time was still a complete mystery.
0:29:44 > 0:29:48And then we left and I flagged down a taxi to Haneda.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52I knew by that time all the flights to Europe had left Narita.
0:29:56 > 0:30:02The first flight out was in two hours' or so time to Hong Kong,
0:30:02 > 0:30:05which I knew I could connect to London and I started queueing up
0:30:05 > 0:30:08for tickets for the Cathay Pacific flight.
0:30:08 > 0:30:12So everything seemed to... You know, I was paranoid by that point.
0:30:13 > 0:30:18And it wasn't until the engines were roaring as we left the runway
0:30:18 > 0:30:21and tilted back in my seat that I started to feel safe.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33Landed at Heathrow.
0:30:33 > 0:30:38I was so exhausted, but filled with adrenaline.
0:30:38 > 0:30:43My wife was there and she saw me and put her arms around me.
0:30:46 > 0:30:48It felt very, very good to be with her.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51She had bought a copy of the Financial Times.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53There on the front page was the story.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00When I switched on my mobile, it beeped crazily
0:31:00 > 0:31:02and the Wall Street Journal and New York Times,
0:31:02 > 0:31:05everyone was leaving messages wanting to speak with me.
0:31:08 > 0:31:09I was just totally...
0:31:10 > 0:31:14..consumed with a sort of sadness and...
0:31:14 > 0:31:16a sense of unease of what the future was going to play out.
0:31:28 > 0:31:29Now, six months ago,
0:31:29 > 0:31:32he became the company's first ever non-Japanese president.
0:31:32 > 0:31:35The board of the camera conglomerate Olympus was so impressed
0:31:35 > 0:31:38that just two weeks ago, they made him Chief Executive as well.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40Then quite suddenly,
0:31:40 > 0:31:42after Michael Woodford had uncovered alleged accounting
0:31:42 > 0:31:46irregularities among the company's finances, everything changed.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55As CEO, one would think you'd be able to go directly
0:31:55 > 0:31:58to the people who co-ordinated the deal.
0:31:58 > 0:32:02- What responses were you getting at the time?- Totally evasive.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04The question still hasn't been answered - for what?
0:32:04 > 0:32:06For what and to whom?
0:32:06 > 0:32:09And why would you pay to people you don't know who they are?
0:32:09 > 0:32:12You can't then establish if there is any related parties
0:32:12 > 0:32:15which raises all the issues which are now circulating in Japan
0:32:15 > 0:32:19about corruption, links to antisocial forces.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23Two seconds here, is Olympus at this point saying they may sue you?
0:32:23 > 0:32:26Yes, I would be delighted for them to sue me in the High Court.
0:32:26 > 0:32:28There is a public interest story here.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31Let the facts come out, let all the facts come out. I'd be delighted.
0:32:31 > 0:32:34- All right.- I'd be delighted if they did that.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41Japanese companies have long been criticised for their cosy,
0:33:41 > 0:33:43insider corporate culture.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46The Japanese themselves say that change is difficult
0:33:46 > 0:33:47without something called gai-atsu,
0:33:47 > 0:33:52which literally translates as pressure from foreigners.
0:34:19 > 0:34:21It was 12 days in.
0:34:21 > 0:34:25I was in New York visiting the FBI with my wife.
0:34:25 > 0:34:29We arrived very late, went to bed exhausted.
0:34:29 > 0:34:31After three hours, the phone started beeping.
0:34:33 > 0:34:37My wife looked and said to me, "Kikukawa has resigned."
0:34:37 > 0:34:39Kikukawa resigning really was, you know,
0:34:39 > 0:34:42the edifice was starting to crack.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45It was starting to crumble. It took 12 days to drive him down.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18Japan had been attracting funds on some levels
0:38:18 > 0:38:22because people were seeing it as a kind of safe haven
0:38:22 > 0:38:25from the European crisis and so forth.
0:38:25 > 0:38:27And now suddenly,
0:38:27 > 0:38:31the integrity of Japanese companies, the integrity of the markets,
0:38:31 > 0:38:36the integrity of financial reporting, was being questioned in a big way.
0:47:19 > 0:47:21Japan was now awake to the story.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24And when I landed at Narita there must have been 20 camera crews
0:47:24 > 0:47:28and 70 journalists. I'd suddenly become a rock star, you know.
0:47:31 > 0:47:36I'm prepared to go back. If the Japanese shareholders don't want me
0:47:36 > 0:47:41because I've been somebody who's not been harmonious,
0:47:41 > 0:47:45because I've shaken the tree and caused waves.
0:47:45 > 0:47:47But the truth of what I was saying has come out.
0:47:47 > 0:47:49That would be a very sad statement to the world,
0:47:49 > 0:47:50that Japan hasn't changed.
0:47:56 > 0:47:57I wanted to come back
0:47:57 > 0:48:01because I wanted to challenge Kikukawa, I wanted to look him
0:48:01 > 0:48:03in the eye as a human being,
0:48:03 > 0:48:07I wanted him to know what I felt and what harm he was doing.
0:48:21 > 0:48:25A fascinating situation to observe, the fired gaijin ex-president,
0:48:25 > 0:48:29still a director, going back to face the board who had ejected him.
0:48:33 > 0:48:34It was strange going back,
0:48:34 > 0:48:37because I saw people I knew and many of them smiled at me.
0:48:37 > 0:48:41In a way, the meeting was a lot less tense than it would have been
0:48:41 > 0:48:45because Kikukawa, Mori and Yamada weren't there.
0:48:54 > 0:48:57The board are all contaminated. Absolutely.
0:48:57 > 0:49:02They have made these decisions and then they have this huge file,
0:49:02 > 0:49:05PWC report, and they still don't act.
0:49:05 > 0:49:07All of them have to go. All of them have to go.
0:49:07 > 0:49:10APPLAUSE
0:51:52 > 0:51:56CLAPPING
0:52:40 > 0:52:43Good evening. It is a day that will be in bold print in history books.
0:52:43 > 0:52:46Black Monday, October 19th, 1987,
0:52:46 > 0:52:49when the stock market went into a freefall,
0:52:49 > 0:52:53losing more in one day than it did on Black Tuesday in 1929.
0:55:35 > 0:55:37STOCK MARKET BELL
0:55:37 > 0:55:40The walls came tumbling down on Wall Street Monday,
0:55:40 > 0:55:42as two financial giants, Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers
0:55:42 > 0:55:45buckled under the real estate and credit crisis.
0:55:48 > 0:55:50We have overcome tough challenges before
0:55:50 > 0:55:52and we will overcome this one.
0:55:52 > 0:55:56Democratic capitalism is the best system ever devised.
0:57:30 > 0:57:34SPEAKING IN JAPANESE
0:58:31 > 0:58:35So, I had agreed with those two shareholders that I would be
0:58:35 > 0:58:36prepared to meet with Mr Takayama,
0:58:36 > 0:58:38that I would be prepared to do that.
0:58:38 > 0:58:41Work together, avoid a proxy fight.
0:58:41 > 0:58:45That's only damaging, that's only harmful, that's only wasteful.
0:58:45 > 0:58:48Show some dignity, do the right thing for this company.
0:58:48 > 0:58:51If he wants to meet to try to solve
0:58:51 > 0:58:54this in a constructive and non-combatitive way,
0:58:54 > 0:58:57then I am more than willing, I hold my hand out.
0:58:57 > 0:59:01Of course he has to leave because of what he failed to do.
0:59:01 > 0:59:06It would be a positive way. I still remain hopeful that he will do this.
0:59:06 > 0:59:09However, if he doesn't, then I will fight for this company.
0:59:09 > 0:59:11Then it will be the time to fight.
0:59:11 > 0:59:16I hope we can avoid it, but if necessary I am prepared.
1:01:07 > 1:01:11So, Mr Takayama, you won't speak to me, but if you're a leader,
1:01:11 > 1:01:15then stand up like a man and go on the programme yourself
1:01:15 > 1:01:20and ask and answer, not with greyness and no comment,
1:01:20 > 1:01:23you answer to the employees and let the employees vote
1:01:23 > 1:01:25after your hour and a half.
1:01:25 > 1:01:29So, Mr Takayama, you go on Nico Nico now. I've done it. You do it.
1:01:59 > 1:02:03I asked at a public televised meeting to meet with Kunibe,
1:02:03 > 1:02:05the President of SMBC.
1:02:05 > 1:02:07He wouldn't even speak to me.
1:02:09 > 1:02:13So Japan works as a club, corporate Japan works as a club,
1:02:13 > 1:02:15but it's perverted and it's distorted
1:02:15 > 1:02:18and it's destroying this country.
1:02:18 > 1:02:21I don't think he had a good sense of some of these bankers
1:02:21 > 1:02:25when he met them while he was president.
1:02:25 > 1:02:29You know, he would always meet them in the company of Kikukawa
1:02:29 > 1:02:31and the bankers would address themselves to Kikukawa
1:02:31 > 1:02:37and I think in those meetings, it was really brought home to Michael
1:02:37 > 1:02:42just how marginalized he was in terms of the Japanese business world.
1:02:42 > 1:02:46Nobody really saw him as being in charge.
1:03:10 > 1:03:14I was on a small island called La Gomera in the Canaries.
1:03:14 > 1:03:16It was New Year's Eve.
1:03:16 > 1:03:22Nuncy was again continuing her point that the Japanese shareholders,
1:03:22 > 1:03:23"They're not supporting you,
1:03:23 > 1:03:26"you can't win without the Japanese shareholders.
1:03:26 > 1:03:28"Stop." You know?
1:05:14 > 1:05:18The samurai were the Japanese colleagues I was working with
1:05:18 > 1:05:23who continue to support me, would have literally died for me.
1:05:23 > 1:05:26You know, they cared so much for the company.
1:05:26 > 1:05:28And then these weak, spineless,
1:05:28 > 1:05:32cowardly, malicious, vindictive...
1:05:32 > 1:05:37And this was cloaked in a guise of, you know,
1:05:37 > 1:05:39"We didn't know what was going on."
1:06:27 > 1:06:29- REPORTER:- 'Three former executives
1:06:29 > 1:06:32'of the disgraced Japanese Olympus Corporation have been arrested
1:06:32 > 1:06:34'at their homes by prosecutors
1:06:34 > 1:06:38'over their role in the disgraced Olympus company's
1:06:38 > 1:06:41'US 1.7 billion accounting fraud.'
1:06:53 > 1:06:56That's the man I'd really like to talk to the most
1:06:56 > 1:06:58in this whole case, is Kikukawa.
1:06:58 > 1:07:02Because I think his mindset, his reactions
1:07:02 > 1:07:06and what he really thinks, if you could pull that out of him,
1:07:06 > 1:07:08that would tell you a lot about Japan.
1:07:33 > 1:07:35The most important thing for him was himself.
1:07:35 > 1:07:38I saw him in meeting after meeting. He cared for himself.
1:07:38 > 1:07:42He was a vain, deluded egotist.
1:07:42 > 1:07:44And he damaged the company.
1:07:44 > 1:07:47He wanted to be the important emperor.
1:07:47 > 1:07:49He wanted people bowing to him.
1:07:49 > 1:07:52He was ugly, ugly, ugly.
1:08:14 > 1:08:17If he truly thought he was doing it for the sake of the company,
1:08:17 > 1:08:21then the one thing it shows about Japan is that responsibility
1:08:21 > 1:08:26is diffuse to the point of being meaningless in many cases.
1:08:26 > 1:08:29You know, this package of secrets and mistakes
1:08:29 > 1:08:33and misjudgements gets passed from person to person.
1:08:33 > 1:08:36No-one really opens it.
1:08:36 > 1:08:38They just hold it for a while.
1:08:38 > 1:08:42And they can claim that they have no ownership of it, no responsibility.
1:08:42 > 1:08:44They're doing it...
1:08:44 > 1:08:45for everyone.
1:08:45 > 1:08:47For the people who came before them.
1:08:48 > 1:08:50It's not really my story,
1:08:50 > 1:08:54it's a story about modern corporate day Japan,
1:08:54 > 1:08:58and much broader than that, it's about Japanese society.
1:08:58 > 1:09:01Companies and the way corporations work
1:09:01 > 1:09:03is just part of the overall society.