Jim Woods

Nissan’s stock price slid after Japanese prosecutors ordered the re-arrest of visionary auto industry leader Carlos Ghosn on suspicion of “aggravated breach of trust” in the wake of a Japanese court refusing to extend his detention that began on Nov. 19 because he allegedly under reported his pay between 2011 and 2015 by $44.3 million.

Nissan Motor Co Ltd. ( OTC: NSANY) shares fell 2.04 percent on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and 2.97 percent on the Over the Counter market in the United States on Friday, Dec. 21, after the new accusations were made. The stock is down more than 12.59 percent since Nov. 16, the last trading day before Nissan’s former chairman Ghosn, 64, was taken into custody.

The board of directors at Nissan removed Ghosn as chairman in a unanimous vote on Nov. 22 that some news reports now indicate may have stemmed, in part, from a power struggle with Nissan Chief Executive Officer HirotoSaikawa. Ghosn, who orchestrated the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance and led it to become the world’s second-largest auto manufacturing group, based on units sold in 2017, was voted out as chairman of Mitsubishi on Nov. 26.

However, Ghosn has not been stripped of his roles as chairman and chief executive officer at France-based Renault SA (OTC:RNSDF), which is seeking evidence about the executive’s alleged wrongdoing. Renault may have benefitted the most from the alliance due to its 43 percent ownership of bigger and more profitable Nissan. However, Renault’s relative strength in the alliance may be slipping, with Nissan now selling one-third more cars annually than its partner and the Japanese company’s management reportedly seeking increased decision-making clout.

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Paul Dykewicz, www.pauldykewicz.com, is an accomplished, award-winning journalist who has written for Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, USA Today, the Journal of Commerce,Seeking Alpha, GuruFocus and other publications and websites. Paul is the editor of StockInvestor.com and DividendInvestor.com, a writer for both websites and a columnist. He further is the editorial director of Eagle Financial Publications in Washington, D.C., where he edits monthly investment newsletters, time-sensitive trading alerts, free e-letters and other investment reports. Paul previously served as business editor of Baltimore’s Daily Record newspaper. Paul also is the author of an inspirational book, “Holy Smokes! Golden Guidance from Notre Dame’s Championship Chaplain,” with a foreword by former national championship-winning football coach Lou Holtz.