Nissan Pays Ex-COO $3.7 Million To Leave After Sexual Harassment Allegations
Nissan Motor Co. paid former Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta ¥582 million ($3.7 million) to depart the company last year amid allegations of misconduct, people familiar with the matter said.
(Bloomberg) -- Nissan Motor Co. paid former Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta ¥582 million ($3.7 million) to depart the company last year amid allegations of misconduct, people familiar with the matter said.
Gupta left Nissan in June last year, surprising investors who had seen him as a potential future candidate for the top job. He departed after the company investigated misconduct it considered to be sexual harassment and paid for him to leave, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.
That compensation figure is now public in a notice of annual shareholders’ meeting, which showed Gupta will also receive allowances.
A spokesperson for Nissan said the company has no comment beyond the public notice. Gupta declined to comment.
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Gupta played a leading role steering Nissan back to profitability following the 2018 arrest of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn. His remuneration for the year through March 2023 of ¥726 million even saw him out-earn Chief Executive Officer Makoto Uchida, who took home ¥673 million.
Other amounts recently paid out to retiring executives include ¥314 million for former President Hiroto Saikawa. Three other executive directors received compensation ranging from ¥191 million to ¥373 million in the same period, according to the securities report for the year that ended in March 2020.
While that makes Gupta’s departure payment comparatively high for Japan, the amount pales in comparison to so-called golden parachute agreements in places like the US. Google agreed to pay as much as $135 million to two top executives who left the company after being accused of sexual harassment. Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, who was ousted over allegations of sexual harassment, was reported to have received as much as $25 million for agreeing to leave the company.
Gupta joined Honda Motor Co. in 1996, working in both India and Japan. He subsequently moved to Renault SA in 2006 and worked as an executive at Renault-Nissan BV. After a stint as COO at Mitsubishi Motors Corp., he took the job at Nissan in 2019. He is currently chief executive officer at Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd.
--With assistance from Supriya Singh and Reed Stevenson.
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