Japanese manufacturer Olympus listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1949. On 14 October 2011, Olympus fired its first foreign CEO, Michael Woodford, for reportedly underperforming. After his departure, Woodford blew the whistle on a number of questionable acquisitions to the UK’s Serious Fraud Office. It transpired that Olympus management made a number of speculative investments in the 1980s which suffered huge losses in the 1990s. These were hidden in investments recorded at cost which were later transferred to unconsolidated shell companies. Olympus then round-tripped funds syphoned from the consideration paid for overpriced (and unrelated) acquisitions to refinance these shell companies. It was his investigation of these latter acquisitions which led him to uncover the fraud and resulted in his wrongful dismissal.

Last updated August 2022.

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