After getting his name smeared by the scandalous arrest in Japan, Carlos Ghosn became the world center of attention since fleeing arrest in Japan to Lebanon.
For a man who was constantly under surveillance in Japan, how could he have possibly pulled this off all the way from the other side of the world to Lebanon without anyone noticing?
In a video, Bloomberg Businessweek delves into his infamous escape.
Bloomberg Businessweek is one of the world’s biggest business magazines. Unlike others, which did not hesitate to draw Ghosn as a money-hungry criminal, Bloomberg took a neutral stance.
The video reminded the world how the ex-Nissan CEO basically saved the sinking ship of the automotive giant and became a hero in the industry. Bloomberg provided two sides of the story, both Japan’s and Ghosn’s.
A Conspiracy
To Ghosn, being the highest-paid person in Japan, this is a whole conspiracy against him, a plot to oust him and ruin his reputation.
The scenario is that there were growing tensions between the Japanese executives at Nissan, who were concerned about the future of the company, and the direction Ghosn was taking it.
Ghosn was interested in integrating Nissan and Renault (he was chairman of both), a plan which Nissan executives felt would wipe out their company altogether.
They didn’t like it, and there are newly exposed emails from inside Nissan that point to a plot against him.
That’s when they started investigating Ghosn, eventually making allegations through their findings that “became the basis of the criminal charges against him.”
The Escape
Around halfway into the video, we finally hear about the intricate escape plan, which included an “elite extraction team” of over a dozen security operatives working to get Ghosn to safety.
“… it seemed so cinematic.”
Matthew Campbell, Bloomberg Businessweek
Conducting proper research, and “studying hotel layouts and airport security,” Michael Taylor led the operation. Taylor and his team found all the vulnerabilities which they could exploit
Note: Taylor, a U.S. Army Special Forces veteran, was deployed to Lebanon during the civil war, where he met his wife – which could explain how the U.S. veteran became involved in this mission.
Unlike previous reports, Ghosn did not escape from his home in a musical instrument case with undercover paramilitary special forces, who were disguised as musicians hired to perform at a dinner party.
In fact, on the day of his escape, Bloomberg explains, Ghosn actually walked out through the front door.
First, he went into the Grand Hyatt hotel, slipped by his security guards, and made his way to a train station that took him to Osaka.
In Osaka, he went to the airport. From there, he was loaded into a box that was too big to pass through the x-ray scanners, which is how he was able to get on board unseen.
He flew to Turkey and, with the help of an employee from the company, they chartered the plane and he was transferred to a flight going to Beirut.
Since his escape, Japan issued a ‘red notice’ through Interpol. However, for the time being, Carlos Ghosn is a free man in Lebanon.
