Exposure

Inside the Olympus Scandal: How I Went from CEO to Whistleblower

By: Michael Woodford

Narrated by: Michael Woodford

When Michael Woodford was made president of Olympus - the company to which he had dedicated thirty years of his career - he became the first Westerner ever to climb the ranks of one of Japan’s corporate giants. Some wondered at the appointment - how could a gaijin who didn’t even speak Japanese understand how to run a Japanese company? But within months Woodford had gained the confidence of most of his colleagues and shareholders. Unfortunately, soon after, his dream job turned into a nightmare.

The trouble began when Woodford learned about a series of bizarre mergers and aquisitions deals totaling $1.7 billion - a scandal that threatened to bring down the entire company if exposed. He turned to his fellow executives - including the chairman who had promoted him Tsuyoshi Kikukawa - for answers. But instead of being heralded as a hero for trying to save the company, Woodford was met with vague responses and hostility - a clear sign of a cover up. Undeterred, he demanded to be made CEO so he could have more leverage with his board and continue to search for the truth. Then, just weeks after being granted the top title, he was fired in a boardroom coup that shocked Japan and the business world at large.

Worried his former bosses might try to silence him, Woodford immediately fled the country in fear of his life and went straight to the press - making him the first CEO of a global multinational to blow the whistle on his own company.

The result is a deeply personal memoir that reads like a thriller narrative. As Woodford puts it, “I thought I was going to run a health-care and consumer electronics company, but found I had walked into a John Grisham novel.”

©2012 Michael Woodford (P)2013 Gildan Media LLC

Critic reviews

“A gripping chronicle by a corporate whistle-blower who achieved a stunning victory.” ( Kirkus Reviews)

"Michael Woodford could have spent years turning a blind eye to the shady dealings of corporate executives at Olympus. Instead...he dove headfirst into allegations of corporate misconduct.”( Time, in naming him a 2011 Person Who Mattered)

Starts off great, then gets stupid

The author writes extremely well and he narrates even better so that kept my attention for a long time. But then about half way through, the book goes from being a suspenseful, financial thriller that hints at Japenese Mafia involvement, to just a whiny narrative from a company president that got fired for exposing bad accounting practices that illegally covered company losses. Yes, that's bad but this man loves to tell the reader (listener) over and over and over that he had integrity and that he won so many accolades for exposing such bad things. After he is fired, all he talks about is giving this interview or that interview and in which fancy hotel he stayed. I'm not sure that he actually is considered a whistleblower since he claims that he found out about the company's bad activities in an article that he read. All he did was demand answers from the board and got fired. Of course then he went on his media blitz to save...not the company...but his name. His media blitz resulted in the company losing 75-80% of its stock value. It seems to me that he caused a lot of people to lose their jobs (not just the board) and caused a lot of people to lose a lot of money. I have no sympathy for him and the book is boring after about Chapter 4. Oh, and there isn't any Mafia involvement or any credible threat to his life.