Briton Scales Heights of Olympus

[IparryU]

Ehhh, how do you own 51% of your flat? (and if that is even possible, is it legal for them to take his key?)

he probably owned the soil it was built on and some other underwritten stuff.

[GomiGirl]

Ehhh, how do you own 51% of your flat? (and if that is even possible, is it legal for them to take his key?)

The flat was probably part of his salary package and there is something in the tax laws that mean that a company can only write off 50% of the cost. Same thing for renting places in the company name.

For example, 50% of the rent of my apartment is paid by the company the other 50% comes out of my salary.

Sounds vicious though that they took his car and his house keys and probably threatened him with letting immigration in on his sacking if he didn't leave immediately. Probably frog marched him back to his office for him to grab his personal items under guard.

[Coligny]

Woah... This kind of behaviour while firing an employee would lead to the biggest corporate beheading evar in any civilised country... The kind of case where lawyers lineup ready to work for free...

Ehhh, how do you own 51% of your flat? (and if that is even possible, is it legal for them to take his key?)

So I finally found someone sucking more than me at understanding capitalism...

For the second part of yer question... TIJ, but even with complacent judicial behaviour toward corporate acshiuns... they might have gone a bit too far too quick... Usually the tradition is to wear out people letting them clean the loo... This over reaction might lead to believe that there is a bit of panic...

[Russell]

Nobody seems to notice, but the guy was extremely willing to leave as soon as possible, because there are Yaks involved. Olympus paying $800 million for three companies that have hardly assets and turn-over, and specializing in products (medical waste processing services, facial cream, and tupperware) that are unrelated to the activities of Olympus, leaves no other conclusion, especially when most of the paid sum is written off within a year.

Add to that other payments to unknown financial advisers stationed in the Cayman island for services that normally justify a 1% fee, but this time required a 30% fee, and you get the picture.

The previous management pissed away $1.3 billion, so it is not hard to understand that this guy would be unwilling to take future responsibility for this. Anyway, he certainly has guts.

[legion]

Money laundering for the yaks. The board were panicking, now they are blustering. My theory is the yaks have been sorting out their labour issues and called in the favour.

This will be very interesting, the Nikkei Shinbum is pretending it hasn't happened, because they share a board member with O-sha apparently, so they could be about to blow their own credibility out of the water too. If the muck raking press pick up on this it will end up in Japanese tin foil hat territory pretty quick because there is no way they are going to have the balls to investigate it for real. We might hear about people dropping dead from respiratory failure in Okinawa hotels, having fits and cracking their unusually thin skulls on the floor, or just slipping and falling off tall buildings soon.

However the Brits might follow through, and the Brit press might keep prodding, because this looks like the tip of the iceberg.

It also strikes me the government are going to find tax hikes a hard sell if the general public become aware of how much funny money is being sifted through tropical tax havens.

[Russell]

[Russell]

[Coligny]

It also strikes me the government are going to find tax hikes a hard sell if the general public become aware of how much funny money is being sifted through tropical tax havens.

[matsuki]

Somebody lifted the "We Japanese" rug and now look at all this dirt...better take pics and show the homeowners association right away if we want it cleaned....because in this house, they're just going to throw another rug on it, wipe around the edges, and say "all clean!"

[sublight]

This will be very interesting, the Nikkei Shinbum is pretending it hasn't happened, because they share a board member with O-sha apparently, so they could be about to blow their own credibility out of the water too.

Looking through their boards of directors, I didn't see any names in common between the two. There might still be some official overlap, or it might just be the standard 'unwritten partnership.'

Nikkei
Olympus

Interesting that the Olympus site still lists Woodford as a member of the board.

[Coligny]

Interesting that the Olympus site still lists Woodford as a member of the board.

Maybe he was also their webmaster...

[Ganma]

Is there a word for whistleblower in Japanese or is this concept totally lost on them?

Shakuhachi...oh wait, that's something else.

[Dreamy_Peach]

Maybe he was also their webmaster...

Maybe Kikukawa is the webmaster for most Japanese news organisations...

I thought it was just the Nikkei that was downplaying it. Looked at Google News Japan, Asahi (below) at the top business stories. There's just nothing. Nikkei in English has a little article.

Erm.... a major blue chip stock drops 45% over a few days, is reported to the SFO and SESC, and there's hardly any coverage. While it was a Japanese business magazine that found out about it, the silence by the mainstream Japanese media says something else.

[Taro Toporific]

via

[Samurai_Jerk]

[Dreamy_Peach]

NHK leads on those lazy Greek bastards protesting about having to repay their debts. Wonder if they mention Olympus at all....

[Yokohammer]

NHK leads on those lazy Greek bastards protesting about having to repay their debts. Wonder if they mention Olympus at all....

Greece ... Mt. Olympus ... I think I've discovered a secret connection!

[Coligny]

Greece ... Mt. Olympus ... I think I've discovered a secret connection!

aaawww yeahhh suuuuure...




We need'sa talky-talky...

[dimwit]

NHK leads on those lazy Greek bastards protesting about having to repay their debts. Wonder if they mention Olympus at all....

Well the Yomiuri has been avoiding any mention of it like the plague. I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop and see how much Kikukawa donated to the LDP. I did see articles in most of the other dailies however.

[legion]

I read the letter he sent to Kikukawa, you can download it off the NYT, the sums of money are staggering.

[Russell]

[BigInJapan]

[Coligny]

I still can't read Klingon...

[Russell]

My take on that is:
"Foreign media repeatedly follow-up the Olympus dismissal uproar"
I don't see how that can be interpreted as putting blame on the foreign media.
The first sentence of the article says that multiple foreign media outlets are reporting the strife between Kikukawa and Woodford who was "fired" regarding the reason he was sacked, and acquisitions he questioned.

The fact that they mention "foreign media" in this context says it all. This is about Olympus, not foreign media, methinks...

[legion]

The Nikkei is cornered, can't not report it, afraid of who might show up at their office if they do.

[Russell]

The Nikkei is cornered, can't not report it, afraid of who might show up at their office if they do.

Not only the Nikkei, but all major news papers.

That puts in perspective the few J-magazines that do report on the case. These guys and girls must be incredibly courageous.

[Ganma]

[Dreamy_Peach]

http://insider.thomsonreuters.com/link.html?cn=share&cid=283848&shareToken=MzozODhjYjA4Ni1mZmU0LTQ4ZmEtOTAxYy1jZTQxNzAzZDE4NDY%3D

[matsuki]

Not only the Nikkei, but all major news papers.

That puts in perspective the few J-magazines that do report on the case. These guys and girls must be incredibly courageous.

Or just taking advantage of the gaping holes major media here leaves.

[GomiGirl]

I'm sorry I don't understand... I thought that in Japan there was a free press. Are you all saying that news is censored here?

*shocking*