Carlos Ghosn - Academy of Achievement

<!doctype html> <html lang="en-US" prefix="og: http://ogp.me/ns#"> <head><script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/bundle-playback.js?v=HxkREWBo" charset="utf-8"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/wombat.js?v=txqj7nKC" charset="utf-8"></script> <script>window.RufflePlayer=window.RufflePlayer||{};window.RufflePlayer.config={"autoplay":"on","unmuteOverlay":"hidden"};</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/ruffle/ruffle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> __wm.init("https://web.archive.org/web"); __wm.wombat("http://www.achievement.org:80/achiever/carlos-ghosn","20190107132313","https://web.archive.org/","web","/_static/", "1546867393"); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/banner-styles.css?v=S1zqJCYt" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/iconochive.css?v=3PDvdIFv" />  <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta http-equiv="x-ua-compatible" content="ie=edge"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="57x57" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-57x57.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="114x114" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-114x114.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="72x72" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-72x72.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="144x144" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-144x144.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="60x60" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-60x60.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="120x120" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-120x120.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="76x76" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-76x76.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="152x152" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-152x152.png"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-196x196.png" sizes="196x196"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-96x96.png" sizes="96x96"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-32x32.png" sizes="32x32"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-16x16.png" sizes="16x16"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-128.png" sizes="128x128"/> <meta name="application-name" content="Academy of Achievement"/> <meta name="msapplication-TileColor" content="#000000"/> <meta name="msapplication-TileImage" content="http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-144x144.png"/> <meta name="msapplication-square70x70logo" content="http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-70x70.png"/> <meta name="msapplication-square150x150logo" content="http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-150x150.png"/> <meta name="msapplication-wide310x150logo" content="http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-310x150.png"/> <meta name="msapplication-square310x310logo" content="http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-310x310.png"/> <link href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313cs_/https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Source+Sans+Pro:400,600,400italic,600italic,700,700italic" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> <title>Carlos Ghosn - Academy of Achievement</title>  <meta name="description" content="Not long after French automaker Renault acquired a controlling interest in Japan’s Nissan Motor Company, Carlos Ghosn was installed as president and CEO. Traditionalists were scandalized at the thought of a foreigner taking charge of this icon of Japanese industry, but the situation at Nissan was bleak, and a new approach was plainly called for. Ghosn promised to turn the company around in a year. Carlos Ghosn was born in Brazil and earned his engineering degrees in Paris. He joined Renault in 1996, and in a short time earned a revealing nickname, “Le Cost Cutter.” He lived up to that name at Nissan. In the first year, Ghosn sold off old subsidiaries, breaking up the traditional keiretsu network of suppliers and affiliates on which Nissan, like other Japanese manufacturers, had long relied. Ghosn’s strategy worked, and by the end of the year, the company, which had reported billions in losses, was showing billions in profit. Ghosn became a hero in Japan; his managerial exploits were even portrayed in a comic book. Having saved Nissan, he was tapped to serve simultaneously as president and CEO of Renault. By coordinating the design and manufacturing programs of the two companies for maximum synergy, he built an automotive empire that circled the globe. Until 2018, he served concurrently as Chairman, President and CEO of Renault, and as Chairman of the Board of both Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors."/> <link rel="canonical" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carlos-ghosn/"/> <meta property="og:locale" content="en_US"/> <meta property="og:type" content="article"/> <meta property="og:title" content="Carlos Ghosn - Academy of Achievement"/> <meta property="og:description" content="Not long after French automaker Renault acquired a controlling interest in Japan’s Nissan Motor Company, Carlos Ghosn was installed as president and CEO. Traditionalists were scandalized at the thought of a foreigner taking charge of this icon of Japanese industry, but the situation at Nissan was bleak, and a new approach was plainly called for. Ghosn promised to turn the company around in a year. Carlos Ghosn was born in Brazil and earned his engineering degrees in Paris. He joined Renault in 1996, and in a short time earned a revealing nickname, “Le Cost Cutter.” He lived up to that name at Nissan. In the first year, Ghosn sold off old subsidiaries, breaking up the traditional <em>keiretsu</em> network of suppliers and affiliates on which Nissan, like other Japanese manufacturers, had long relied. Ghosn’s strategy worked, and by the end of the year, the company, which had reported billions in losses, was showing billions in profit. Ghosn became a hero in Japan; his managerial exploits were even portrayed in a comic book. Having saved Nissan, he was tapped to serve simultaneously as president and CEO of Renault. By coordinating the design and manufacturing programs of the two companies for maximum synergy, he built an automotive empire that circled the globe. Until 2018, he served concurrently as Chairman, President and CEO of Renault, and as Chairman of the Board of both Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors."/> <meta property="og:url" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carlos-ghosn/"/> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Academy of Achievement"/> <meta property="og:image" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/ghosn-2-Feature-Image-2800x1120.jpg"/> <meta property="og:image:width" content="2800"/> <meta property="og:image:height" content="1120"/> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary"/> <meta name="twitter:description" content="Not long after French automaker Renault acquired a controlling interest in Japan’s Nissan Motor Company, Carlos Ghosn was installed as president and CEO. Traditionalists were scandalized at the thought of a foreigner taking charge of this icon of Japanese industry, but the situation at Nissan was bleak, and a new approach was plainly called for. Ghosn promised to turn the company around in a year. Carlos Ghosn was born in Brazil and earned his engineering degrees in Paris. He joined Renault in 1996, and in a short time earned a revealing nickname, “Le Cost Cutter.” He lived up to that name at Nissan. In the first year, Ghosn sold off old subsidiaries, breaking up the traditional <em>keiretsu</em> network of suppliers and affiliates on which Nissan, like other Japanese manufacturers, had long relied. Ghosn’s strategy worked, and by the end of the year, the company, which had reported billions in losses, was showing billions in profit. Ghosn became a hero in Japan; his managerial exploits were even portrayed in a comic book. Having saved Nissan, he was tapped to serve simultaneously as president and CEO of Renault. By coordinating the design and manufacturing programs of the two companies for maximum synergy, he built an automotive empire that circled the globe. Until 2018, he served concurrently as Chairman, President and CEO of Renault, and as Chairman of the Board of both Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors."/> <meta name="twitter:title" content="Carlos Ghosn - Academy of Achievement"/> <meta name="twitter:image" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/ghosn-2-Feature-Image-2800x1120.jpg"/> <script type="application/ld+json">{"@context":"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20190107132313\/http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"WebSite","@id":"#website","url":"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20190107132313\/http:\/\/www.achievement.org\/","name":"Academy of Achievement","alternateName":"A museum of living history","potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20190107132313\/http:\/\/www.achievement.org\/search\/{search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}</script> <script 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<div class="feature-area__text-inner text-white"> <h2 class="serif-8 feature-area__text-subhead back"><a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever">All achievers</a></h2> <h1 class="serif-1 entry-title feature-area__text-headline">Carlos Ghosn</h1> <h5 class="sans-6 feature-area__blurb">Chairman of Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi</h5> </div> </figcaption> </div> </div> </figure> </header> </div>  <nav class="in-page-nav row fixedsticky"> <ul class="nav text-xs-center clearfix" role="tablist"> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link active" data-toggle="tab" href="#biography" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Biography">Biography</a> </li> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link" data-toggle="tab" href="#profile" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Profile">Profile</a> </li> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link" data-toggle="tab" href="#interview" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Interview">Interview</a> </li> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link" data-toggle="tab" href="#gallery" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Gallery">Gallery</a> </li> </ul> </nav> <article class="post-39233 achiever type-achiever status-publish has-post-thumbnail hentry careers-automotive-executive"> <div class="entry-content container clearfix">  <div class="tab-content"> <div class="tab-pane fade in active" id="biography" role="tabpanel"> <section class="achiever--biography"> <div class="row"> <header class="editorial-article__header col-md-8 col-md-offset-2 text-xs-center"> <i class="icon-icon_bio text-brand-primary"></i> <h3 class="serif-3 quote-marks">You miss 100 percent of the shots that you don't take. So it doesn't matter if you fail or if you win, but you just have to dare, be audacious, be bold, look at the direction and don't be afraid to fail.</h3> </header> </div> <div class="row"> <aside class="col-md-4 sidebar clearfix"> <h2 class="serif-3 p-b-1">Automotive Industry's Turnaround King</h2> <div class="col-xs-12 sidebar--chunk p-b-2"> <dt class="serif-7">Date of Birth</dt> <dd class="sans-2"> March 9, 1954 </dd> </div> </aside> <article class="editorial-article col-md-8"> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body><figure id="attachment_39528" style="width: 1271px" class="wp-caption alignright"><noscript><img class="wp-image-39528 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/C3Jr_ZzVUAEMkcu.jpg-large.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-39528 size-full lazyload" alt="" width="1271" height="955" data-sizes="(max-width: 1271px) 100vw, 1271px" data-srcset="/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/C3Jr_ZzVUAEMkcu.jpg-large.jpg 1271w, /web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/C3Jr_ZzVUAEMkcu.jpg-large-380x286.jpg 380w, /web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/C3Jr_ZzVUAEMkcu.jpg-large-760x571.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/C3Jr_ZzVUAEMkcu.jpg-large.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Carlos Ghosn, at age 26, managing a Michelin plant in France. Ghosn was born in Brazil but spent much of his childhood in Lebanon. After high school, he moved to France to attend École Polytechnique and the École des Mines in Paris. At the age of 24, he joined The Michelin Company in France. Ghosn was promoted to manager of the plant in Le Puy in his third year with the company.</figcaption></figure><p>Carlos Ghosn was born in Porto Velho, Brazil to parents of Lebanese origin. He spent his first years in in Porto Velho and in Rio de Janeiro before returning with his mother to their ancestral homeland of Lebanon, where he studied in French language schools. Although he spent most of his youth in Lebanon, he cherished his memories of Brazil, and longed to return some day. As a boy, he enjoyed the study of history, languages and literature, but family influence and practical considerations pointed him toward the study of engineering. At age 17, after completing his secondary education in Lebanon, he traveled to Paris for university study, engineering degrees at the École Polytechnique and the École des Mines de Paris. On graduating in 1978, Ghosn took a job with French tire manufacturer Michelin, a company with substantial interests in Brazil. Rising from plant manager to head of research and development, he was thrilled when an opportunity arose to transfer to the land of his birth. At 30, he became chief operating officer of Michelin Brazil. At the time, Michelin’s operation in Brazil was struggling. The country as a whole was experiencing hyperinflation, and was losing money. Ghosn, who is fluent in both French and Portuguese, enjoyed a deep understanding of both French and Brazilian cultures and created an inclusive work environment for workers of all nationalities. Under his leadership, the company returned to profitability in only two years.</p> <figure id="attachment_39530" style="width: 2048px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-39530 " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2000-GettyImages-51343934.jpg"></noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-39530 lazyload" alt="" width="2048" height="1192" data-sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" data-srcset="/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2000-GettyImages-51343934.jpg 2048w, /web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2000-GettyImages-51343934-380x221.jpg 380w, /web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2000-GettyImages-51343934-760x442.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2000-GettyImages-51343934.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">October 2000: Ghosn during a press conference on the progress of the Nissan Revival Plan in Tokyo. In 1996, after 18 Years at Michelin, Ghosn accepted an offer to help revive the French carmaker Renault. Under his leadership and his “20 Billion Franc Cost-Reduction Plan,” Renault’s performance from 1997 to 1999 improved substantially. In 1999, Renault partnered with Nissan Motor Co. Carlos Ghosn’s first order of business was to build a plan for Nissan’s recovery. Later that year, he introduced the Nissan Revival Plan. By the year through March 2002, Nissan had achieved a 4.5 percent margin on operations and reduced interest-bearing debt to less than 700 billion yen.</figcaption></figure><p>Ghosn would happily have remained in Brazil, but his success there led to his appointment as president and chief operating officer of Michelin North America. Michelin had recently acquired the Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company and Ghosn was tasked with restructuring the merged companies. The merger was a success and Ghosn was promoted to chief executive officer.</p> <p>Ghosn’s talents attracted attention beyond the tire industry. When the troubled French automaker Renault offered him an executive vice presidency, Ghosn seized the opportunity. Not only was the move from supplier to manufacturer a step up the industrial food chain, but Ghosn’s new position also returned him to South America. Renault placed him in charge of advanced research and development, manufacturing and purchasing throughout the company, and placed him at the head of all Renault activities in the Common Market of the South (Mercosur), a vast region comprising Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and associated member countries in South America. Ghosn undertook a radical restructuring of the company that earned him the unwelcome nickname “Le Cost Cutter.” Nicknames notwithstanding, Ghosn restored Renault to profitability, setting the stage for the company’s further expansion.</p> <figure id="attachment_58932" style="width: 1360px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-58932 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/ghosn-bio-2004-square-2004-chicago_1185_JFR-copy.png"></noscript><img class="wp-image-58932 size-full lazyload" alt="" width="1360" height="1360" data-sizes="(max-width: 1360px) 100vw, 1360px" data-srcset="/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/ghosn-bio-2004-square-2004-chicago_1185_JFR-copy.png 1360w, /web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/ghosn-bio-2004-square-2004-chicago_1185_JFR-copy-190x190.png 190w, /web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/ghosn-bio-2004-square-2004-chicago_1185_JFR-copy-380x380.png 380w, /web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/ghosn-bio-2004-square-2004-chicago_1185_JFR-copy-760x760.png 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/ghosn-bio-2004-square-2004-chicago_1185_JFR-copy.png"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Carlos Ghosn receives the Golden Plate Award from Awards Council member, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, Gen. Wesley Clark, USA, at the American Academy of Achievement’s 2004 ceremonies in Chicago, Illinois.</figcaption></figure><p>Ghosn’s successes in Europe, and in North and South America, would soon lead him to yet another continent, and the greatest challenge of his career. When Renault entered into an alliance with Nissan Motor Co. in 1999, Ghosn was tapped to become chief operating officer of Nissan in Japan. Ghosn faced an unusually difficult situation as the first foreigner to head a major Japanese company. With nearly $20 billion in debt, and annual losses of over $6 billion, Nissan was near bankruptcy.</p> <figure id="attachment_39545" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-39545 " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2005-gettyimages-94814261.jpg"></noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-39545 lazyload" alt="" width="2280" height="1520" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2005-gettyimages-94814261.jpg 2280w, /web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2005-gettyimages-94814261-380x253.jpg 380w, /web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2005-gettyimages-94814261-760x507.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2005-gettyimages-94814261.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">April 2005: Louis Schweitzer, right, non-executive chairman of Renault, symbolically gives the keys of a Renault car to Carlos Ghosn, new chief executive of Renault, at the annual general meeting in Paris, France. Ghosn succeeded Louis Schweitzer as the chief executive officer of Renault. (Photo by Lucas Schifres/Bloomberg via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure><p>Ghosn believed only drastic action could save the company. He broke with deeply entrenched Japanese business practices to execute the Nissan Revival Plan. At the outset, he cut 21,000 jobs — roughly one in seven — closed five plants, eliminated seniority-based promotions and dismantled the <em>keiretsu</em> system, buying out suppliers who held long-term sales agreements as well as stock in the company. He brought in French and American managers to work side by side with Japanese ones and instituted English as a corporate language for a multinational workforce. To assure the entire company of his commitment to his goals, he promised to resign, along with his management team, if he did not meet precise targets of profitability and debt reduction within three years.</p> <figure id="attachment_39546" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-39546 " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2013-GettyImages-188152359_master.jpg"></noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-39546 lazyload" alt="" width="2280" height="1350" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2013-GettyImages-188152359_master.jpg 2280w, /web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2013-GettyImages-188152359_master-380x225.jpg 380w, /web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2013-GettyImages-188152359_master-760x450.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2013-GettyImages-188152359_master.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">2013: Carlos Ghosn with his children Anthony, Maya, and Caroline at the Troph<span class="st">é</span>e Des Arts gala in New York City.</figcaption></figure><p>In fact, he reached his goals ahead of schedule. Nissan began turning a profit within the first year. Under Ghosn’s leadership, the firm’s production has more than doubled and its debt has been eliminated. The company has expanded into new markets, including China — Asia’s largest single market — and Nissan now employs thousands more workers than it did when Carlos Ghosn first took over.</p> <p>Ghosn was promoted to chief executive officer of Nissan in 2001, a post he would hold for the next six years. Once regarded with suspicion by the Japanese press and business community, Ghosn has become a sort of folk hero, his achievements celebrated in the press and even in a Japanese <em>manga</em> comic book. He recounted his experience in a bestselling book, <em>Shift: Inside Nissan’s Historic Revival</em>.</p> <figure id="attachment_39547" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-39547 " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2014-GettyImages-456408904_master.jpg"></noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-39547 lazyload" alt="" width="2280" height="1418" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2014-GettyImages-456408904_master.jpg 2280w, /web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2014-GettyImages-456408904_master-380x236.jpg 380w, /web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2014-GettyImages-456408904_master-760x473.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2014-GettyImages-456408904_master.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">September 2014: French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron and Carlos Ghosn at the inauguration of a new production plant of Renault in Sandouville, France. Renault inaugurated a new production line for its redesigned Trafic cargo van, and announced it will build a version for Fiat on the line starting in the second quarter of 2016.</figcaption></figure><p>In 2005, Ghosn was chosen to serve as CEO of Groupe Renault, making him the first person to run two Fortune 500 companies simultaneously. He became chairman of the board of Renault in 2009, and in 2013 added the chairmanship of Russia’s AVTOVAZ automaker — producer of Russia’s Lada brand — to his already awe-inspiring portfolio of responsibilities in Western Europe and Asia. He became chairman of Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors in 2016, and relinquished the chairmanship of AVTOVAZ, which remains a Groupe Renault subsidiary. The four companies he headed over the course of 2016 sold 9.96 million vehicles that year. More than one in every nine cars sold worldwide in 2016 were produced under Mr. Ghosn’s leadership. He has been the subject of numerous business school studies and popular books such as <em>Turnaround</em> and <em>The Ghosn Factor</em>.</p> <figure id="attachment_39548" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-39548 " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2016-GettyImages-611411038_master.jpg"></noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-39548 lazyload" alt="" width="2280" height="1448" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2016-GettyImages-611411038_master.jpg 2280w, /web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2016-GettyImages-611411038_master-380x241.jpg 380w, /web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2016-GettyImages-611411038_master-760x483.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2016-GettyImages-611411038_master.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">September 29, 2016: Carlos Ghosn, chief executive officer of Renault SA and Nissan Motor, after the presentation of the new Nissan Micra automobile at the Paris Motor Show in Paris, France. The Paris Motor Show will showcase the latest models from the auto industry’s leading manufacturers at the Paris Expo exhibition centre. (Chesnot/Getty)</figcaption></figure><p>Ghosn stepped down as CEO of Nissan in 2017, while continuing to serve as chairman of Nissan and Mitsubishi, and as chairman, president and chief executive officer of Groupe Renault. All the companies of Groupe Renault share purchasing operations and some cross-brand manufacturing, but each retains distinctive design elements and brand identity. Ghosn is squarely facing the challenges of the future, in the fields of electric vehicles and of driverless, or “driver-assisted,” cars. In 2007 he committed $5 billion to the development of an affordable zero-emissions vehicle. The electric Nissan Leaf debuted in 2010, and soon became the world’s bestselling zero-emissions vehicle. Nissan is also producing a driver-assisted automobile, the Serena.</p> <figure id="attachment_39549" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-39549 " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2017-GettyImages-688813816_master.jpg"></noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-39549 lazyload" alt="" width="2280" height="3420" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2017-GettyImages-688813816_master.jpg 2280w, /web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2017-GettyImages-688813816_master-253x380.jpg 253w, /web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2017-GettyImages-688813816_master-507x760.jpg 507w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2017-GettyImages-688813816_master.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">May 26, 2017: Carlos Ghosn and his wife, Carole, attend <em>L’Amant Double</em> red carpet arrivals during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France. (Photo by Gisela Schober and Getty Images)</figcaption></figure><p>Carlos Ghosn maintains both French and Brazilian citizenship. He and his wife, Carole, have homes in France, Japan and Brazil. His work travel is scheduled six months to a year in advance; in a typical month, he divides his time between a week in Paris, a week in Japan, and the remaining weeks in the United States, Morocco, Russia, Indonesia, and wherever else Groupe Renault’s far-flung operations may demand his attention. In his understandably limited spare time, he serves on the International Advisory Council of Tsinghua University in Beijing and the Strategic Council of Saint Joseph University in Beirut.</p> <p>On November 2018, Carlos Ghosn and an associate were arrested in Tokyo.  Prosecutors alleged that documents Ghosn had supplied to Japanese tax authorities had underreported his income by as much as $44 million.  The same day, the CEO of Nissan announced that Ghosn would be removed as Chairman of the Board for acts of financial misconduct, including the diversion of company assets to his personal use.</p></body></html> <div class="clearfix"> </div> </article> </div> </section> </div> <div class="tab-pane fade" id="profile" role="tabpanel"> <section class="clearfix"> <header class="editorial-article__header"> <figure class="text-xs-center"> <img class="inductee-badge" src="/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/inducted-badge@2x.png" alt="Inducted Badge" width="120" height="120"/> <figcaption class="serif-3 text-brand-primary"> Inducted in 2004 </figcaption> </figure> </header> <div class="row"> <aside class="col-md-4 sidebar"> <dl class="clearfix m-b-0"> <div class="col-xs-12 sidebar--chunk p-b-2"> <dt class="serif-7">Career</dt> <dd class="sans-2"> <div><a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/#filter=.automotive-executive">Automotive Executive</a></div> </dd> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 sidebar--chunk p-b-2"> <dt class="serif-7">Date of Birth</dt> <dd class="sans-2"> March 9, 1954 </dd> </div> </dl> </aside> <article class="col-md-8 editorial-article clearfix"> <p>Not long after French automaker Renault acquired a controlling interest in Japan’s Nissan Motor Company, Carlos Ghosn was installed as president and CEO. Traditionalists were scandalized at the thought of a foreigner taking charge of this icon of Japanese industry, but the situation at Nissan was bleak, and a new approach was plainly called for. Ghosn promised to turn the company around in a year.</p> <p>Carlos Ghosn was born in Brazil and earned his engineering degrees in Paris. He joined Renault in 1996, and in a short time earned a revealing nickname, “Le Cost Cutter.” He lived up to that name at Nissan. In the first year, Ghosn sold off old subsidiaries, breaking up the traditional <em>keiretsu</em> network of suppliers and affiliates on which Nissan, like other Japanese manufacturers, had long relied. Ghosn’s strategy worked, and by the end of the year, the company, which had reported billions in losses, was showing billions in profit.</p> <p>Ghosn became a hero in Japan; his managerial exploits were even portrayed in a comic book. Having saved Nissan, he was tapped to serve simultaneously as president and CEO of Renault. By coordinating the design and manufacturing programs of the two companies for maximum synergy, he built an automotive empire that circled the globe. Until 2018, he served concurrently as Chairman, President and CEO of Renault, and as Chairman of the Board of both Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors.</p> </article> </div> </section> </div> <div class="tab-pane fade" id="interview" role="tabpanel"> <section class="clearfix"> <div class="col-md-12 interview-feature-video"> <figure> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/k1r5MkFotzI?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ghosn-Carlos-2004-MasterEdit.00_13_45_27.Still001-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ghosn-Carlos-2004-MasterEdit.00_13_45_27.Still001-760x428.jpg"></div> <div class="video-tag sans-4"> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> <div class="video-tag__text">Watch full interview</div> </div> </div> </figure> </div> <header class="col-md-12 text-xs-center m-b-2"> <i class="icon-icon_bio text-brand-primary"></i> </header> <aside class="col-md-4 sidebar"> <h2 class="serif-3 achiever--biography-subtitle">Automotive Industry's Turnaround King</h2> <div class="sans-2">Chicago, Illinois</div> <div class="sans-2">June 12, 2004</div> </aside> <article class="editorial-article col-md-8">   <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p><strong>You’ve had such an international career. Where did you grow up?</strong></p> <p>I was born in Brazil, spent there the first six years of my life. Then, for family circumstances, I went to Lebanon, where I spent the following ten years going to a French school in Lebanon, and then after this went to Paris. In Paris I graduated from two engineering schools and started my career with a company, which name is Michelin, thinking about going back to Brazil because they were developing a big project in Brazil.</p> <p>In fact, I spent probably seven years in France before going back to Brazil, which finally happened. I didn’t stay in Brazil as much as I wanted, but I still spent four years.Then I had to come to the United States, where a lot of important things for the company were happening at this time, particularly the acquisition of a competitor, which was Uniroyal-Goodrich. So I had to put the two companies together and run them up to 1996.</p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/9H3AceBJQ_Q?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ghosn-Carlos-2004-MasterEdit.00_32_02_24.Still007-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ghosn-Carlos-2004-MasterEdit.00_32_02_24.Still007-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p>I spent seven years in the United States, but then a headhunter approached me and asked me if I’m willing to join the car industry, which obviously is something that anybody working as a supplier would like to do, because then you are at the top of the food chain. I joined Renault then in 1996. I went from the United States to France. I was about to stay there for a long time but events decided differently, because in 1999 an agreement — an alliance — was signed between Renault and Nissan. Nissan Motors at that moment was not in very good shape and looking for a partner to be able to get out of the difficulties in which it found itself, and Renault was looking for a way to increase a little bit of their scope worldwide by finding the right partner. The alliance was signed in 1999. I headed for Tokyo, where I took the responsibility of Nissan as president and chief executive officer, and that’s what I’ve been doing for the last five years. And what is planned is, next year, in April 2005, after the shareholder meeting, I will become president and CEO of Renault at the same time that I will be keeping my responsibility as president and CEO of Nissan.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body><figure id="attachment_39570" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-39570 " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2005-GettyImages-600011000_master.jpg"></noscript><img class="size-full wp-image-39570 lazyload" alt="" width="2280" height="1520" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2005-GettyImages-600011000_master.jpg 2280w, /web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2005-GettyImages-600011000_master-380x253.jpg 380w, /web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2005-GettyImages-600011000_master-760x507.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2005-GettyImages-600011000_master.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">May 2005: Carlos Ghosn visits the Laguna production line with managers and staff at the Renault factory in Sandouville, France, a month after he was named president and chief executive officer of Renault. (Getty)</figcaption></figure></body></html> </div>     <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p><strong>How did you decide what you wanted to do?</strong></p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/acIX7nzEcPM?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ghosn-Carlos-2004-MasterEdit.00_26_09_10.Still006-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ghosn-Carlos-2004-MasterEdit.00_26_09_10.Still006-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/passion/">Passion</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p>I don’t think I decided exactly what I wanted to do. I decided where I wanted to be. This is the way it came. I was a student in France, and I wanted to come back to Brazil, and particularly I wanted to come back to Rio de Janeiro, which is a city I still love a lot and I appreciate a lot. I was looking for an opportunity after I graduated as an engineer. In fact, I went to Michelin because Michelin had a big project in Brazil, and they were looking for students who had ties with Brazil, spoke Portuguese, knew Brazil, and had a French education. So I was the perfect profile for this, and as this project was in the State of Rio de Janeiro, and not very far from the City of Rio de Janeiro, I decided to go for it. So I wouldn’t say that I was deciding on what to do. I decided basically on where I wanted to go, and this is the way the career started.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p><strong>Is it possible to plot a course or, I mean, does one find a career or a calling, or does it find you?</strong></p> <p>Carlos Ghosn: I don’t know if in absolute terms you can answer this question, but if I have to answer this question I will tell you, no. There is no course. There are opportunities that come, you take them or not, and this defines the course of your life.</p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/863kbwSa8aY?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ghosn-Carlos-2004-MasterEdit.00_23_23_05.Still005-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ghosn-Carlos-2004-MasterEdit.00_23_23_05.Still005-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p>I studied engineering and went to Michelin because I wanted to go to Brazil. I ended up going to Brazil, but much later, and then I was very successful in Brazil and I thought that this would keep me in Brazil for a long time. I was wrong, because being successful in Brazil precipitated me moving to the United States, which was a great opportunity for me. At the same time, I was very sad to leave Brazil. When I left Michelin to go to Renault, I was attracted by the car industry. I always had been attracted by the car as a product, and the industry by itself, and I thought I would be staying probably most of my professional life in France. But I ended up staying two years and a half, because all of a sudden this alliance came, and the prospect to work in Tokyo and heading a Japanese company was not something that I had ever dreamed of, or planned for it, or plotted for. It just came, and I had to say yes or no, and when opportunity came I took it, and I ended up spending five years — probably the most exciting professional years of my life — in Japan.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body><figure id="attachment_39578" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-39578 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/wp-nissan-ceo-carlos-ghosn-presenting-at-company-annual-meeting-yokohama-jun-2015_100516368_h.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-39578 size-full lazyload" alt="" width="2280" height="1522" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/wp-nissan-ceo-carlos-ghosn-presenting-at-company-annual-meeting-yokohama-jun-2015_100516368_h.jpg 2280w, /web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/wp-nissan-ceo-carlos-ghosn-presenting-at-company-annual-meeting-yokohama-jun-2015_100516368_h-380x254.jpg 380w, /web/20190107132313im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/wp-nissan-ceo-carlos-ghosn-presenting-at-company-annual-meeting-yokohama-jun-2015_100516368_h-760x507.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/wp-nissan-ceo-carlos-ghosn-presenting-at-company-annual-meeting-yokohama-jun-2015_100516368_h.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">June 2015: Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn presenting at a company annual meeting in Yokohama, Japan. In February of 2017, Ghosn announced he was stepping down as CEO of Nissan but will continue as chairman of the board when the management change takes place in April. Carlos Ghosn will be replaced by Nissan’s co-CEO Hiroto Saikawa. Under Ghosn, Nissan became the centerpiece of an automotive empire spanning Europe and Asia. (Nissan Motor)</figcaption></figure></body></html> </div>     <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p><strong>In 1999, you went to Japan to serve as chief executive officer of Nissan. What was that like, as an outsider, taking over this established Japanese company?</strong></p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/FHUS1wvzVu8?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ghosn-Carlos-2004-MasterEdit.00_21_53_13.Still002-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ghosn-Carlos-2004-MasterEdit.00_21_53_13.Still002-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/passion/">Passion</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p>I was thinking, at that time, that first — I had probably a 50 percent chance of being successful and 50 percent chance of not being successful — and if I was not successful, well, that was it. It was the end of the career, because you could not expect, being in such a highly visible position, to come with an even average result and expect any interesting career after that. So I knew it from the beginning, but I took it, because I thought that if anybody has been prepared in his career to take this kind of challenge, it was me. Going through different countries, working in different continents, facing different challenges, different people, I’ve been through this. And coming to Japan as a foreigner, I was probably very well prepared — having faced different cultures and different countries — to approach Japanese culture with enough attention, curiosity and respect. At the same time, with enough focus on reviving Nissan to be able to pull it off. So I gave myself a 50 percent chance, but I was very excited.</p> <p>On top of this, it was a tremendous learning experience. I was going to learn about Japan, about Asia. For the first time I was going to be really in charge of a company. So far, I had been a member of an executive committee, a member of a team. I was proposing, but not giving the final word, and this time it was. I was in charge and it was a different thing, and I liked Japan.</p> <p>I liked Japan for very subjective ways or things. I liked the strong identity of Japan. I respect Japan for being a country with no resources, very small, not a very significant population, and still being the second largest economy in the world. The punctuality, the technology, the dedication, the loyalty, the simplicity, the modesty of the Japanese, all of this attracted me a lot. So I really found myself in a situation where I could make a difference, and you always want to put yourself in a situation — even a very tough situation — where you can contribute and make a difference, and this opportunity was given to me, so I didn’t want to miss it.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/USXRCZtyvL0?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ghosn-Carlos-2004-MasterEdit.00_11_13_07.Still004-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ghosn-Carlos-2004-MasterEdit.00_11_13_07.Still004-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p>In 1999, Nissan was a heavily indebted company, more than $20 billion in net automotive debt. It was a company which lost market share for at least the ten years preceding 1999 in all the markets. It was a company with a weakening brand, a bland product lineup, and an average operating margin of one percent — which is very low for the automotive industry — and most of the years were unprofitable. The net income was negative, the return on invested capital ridiculous, less than one percent. That was the situation in 1999. People were anxious, frustrated, afraid, not confident about the future. In 2004 — I can talk about the official results of 2003 — this company erased completely the debt. We’re cash today. The operating margin is at 11 percent, which positions Nissan in the top level of the industry. The return on invested capital is more than 20 percent, again at the top level of the whole industry. The growth has been at ten percent two years in a row in a flat market. And probably one of the coolest product lineups on the market today. I’m not talking about it, because these are our babies so we can’t be objective about them, but I’m talking about what the press and the media is telling you about the cars you’re seeing on the streets.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/PxoHcac0Nfs?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ghosn-Carlos-2004-MasterEdit.00_11_01_27.Still008-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ghosn-Carlos-2004-MasterEdit.00_11_01_27.Still008-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/integrity/">Integrity</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p>The most important step, the first one, is, in 1999 the company did not have any vision, any sense of destination, any sense of purpose. We had to establish a simple vision shared for the future. The second important point is the fact that you’re going to have to keep your eyes on people’s motivation, particularly when they have some difficult things to do, and we had a lot of difficult things to do. We had to close plants, reduce head count, unwind cross shareholding, sell assets, at the same time investing in a lot of products for the future. It was not easy, but it was very important to explain why we had to do this and where we were going. But this is not sufficient, because if you have a good vision and you explain what are the action plans, people will not believe you unless you come with very strong commitments, and we made commitments. I made a personal commitment, saying that if the company was not profitable — the first year of the plan — I would be resigning, and with me all the members of the executive committee. We said also that if the debt was not cut by half in three years we would also be resigning. So we gave three very strong commitments, and we put our head on the table, saying “There will be no other plan. That’s it.” And if there was another plan for Nissan, it would not be carried by us.</p> <p>Finally, you have to deliver results, because the vision is good, motivation of people is good, your commitment is important, but if you don’t have results no leadership will ever last or be accepted. So you have to come with amazing results that people believe were not possible, and you have to come with them as soon as possible.</p> <p>So if you follow these four steps — which obviously are easy on the paper and much more difficult in reality — and you do them in a way which is transparent, honest, truthful, that nobody thinks that you’re playing with them or you’re manipulating them, then the bottom line is that you establish confidence, the trust, the credibility, the respect inside the company, and people will be willing to go the extra mile with you. They will be willing to face many challenges which would appear to other people as daunting, and they will be able to make commitments that for other people would be foolish.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p><strong>Were you concerned about the reception you might receive in Japan as an outsider? You were challenging a lot of the ways Japanese companies traditionally operate.</strong></p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/HnG_y5dWpSU?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ghosn-Carlos-2004-MasterEdit.00_10_13_13.Still003-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ghosn-Carlos-2004-MasterEdit.00_10_13_13.Still003-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/perseverance/">Perseverance</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p>I was expecting a negative reception in Japan — but in a certain way I was prepared for it — because obviously I don’t know why the Japanese public would trust somebody coming from outside, with a limited experience in Japanese corporation, limited experience of Japanese culture, trying to take care of a company which is one of the most renowned names in Japan, which has been struggling at least for the past ten years. So when I was received in Japan, I was received with a lot of skepticism, obviously some criticism, some negative comments, but most of the public was, I would say, skeptical. Skeptical because, from one side they said, “Well, this guy has courage to come in a situation that he did not create and try to shore up a company which has been in trouble for Japanese society for such a long time.” On the other side they said, “But what is he going to be able to do that Japanese management was not able to do for the last ten years?”</p> <p>I was very happy to have skepticism and not significant animosity against me. This put a lot of pressure on me to deliver results quickly, because skepticism is an unstable situation. It can go to support or it can go to resistance and negative attitude. The difference is how much can you transform the reality into something better. This put a lot of pressure to deliver results quickly, and that’s why we were able to come with a plan three months after I assumed my responsibility, and committing on results already on the first year of the plan. I wanted to make sure that I will have the attention of the public, and hopefully get the public to judge on the results and not on intention, or not on origin, and not on gender, or not on culture, and as you know, that’s what ended up happening.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20190107132313if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/kUSapkxbAGg?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ghosn-Carlos-2004-MasterEdit.00_01_56_14.Still009-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ghosn-Carlos-2004-MasterEdit.00_01_56_14.Still009-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/courage/">Courage</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p>As you know, we had to make a lot of changes in Nissan. Any one of the many changes that we have done would have been headline news in Japan. I received a lot of advice when I arrived from outside people — Japanese and non-Japanese — saying, “You know, there are a lot of things in Japan that you can’t do. You can’t close a plant. You can’t reduce head count. You can’t unwind cross shareholding. You have to respect the <em>keiretsu</em>. You have to respect the seniority system. You have to guarantee lifetime employment.” You know, a list probably of about 80 or 90 things not to do in Japan. And I was very quickly faced with a situation. I accept all this advice and I have to pack my luggage and go back to Paris and just let somebody else get a shot at it, or I’m going to have to transgress many of these advices.</p> <p>On October 18, 1999, when I announced the Nissan development plan, I went against the 80 advices which were given to me, and in fact, the plan shocked Japan, because a lot of old way of doing things were really not respected into the plan. But I think what made the public, in general, wait and see or give us the benefit of the doubt is there were some commitments behind it. These commitments involved top management more than anybody else in the company. That’s what gave us a little bit of a benefit of the doubt. And then when the results started to pour in, and people started to see transformation of the company — and transformation of the company shows first in the employees of the company, because they speak about the company more than anything else.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p>We have 130,000 people worldwide, half of them being in Japan. These people have families and friends, and they speak. They convey the image of the company, so either they are happy, they are hopeful — if they are more confident, if they trust, if they work hard, people around you are going to look at you and say, “Well, there is something right that you’re doing.”</p> <p>If, on the contrary, they are skeptical, they are critical, they are anxious, they are nervous, then you’re not going to be given any other chance. I think the people of Nissan carried the plan from the beginning, and they were at the beginning — at the start of this report that we got from the Japanese public — the rest of the story you know.</p> <p>But I was grateful that I was at least given the benefit of the doubt, and I could not expect more than this. I didn’t want more than this. I just wanted to be given the chance of delivering, and I was given the chance of delivering by the Japanese public. And today, Nissan is a hot story in Japan, as you know. This is because it’s a tremendous tribute to the capacity of a company in Japan, by being focused on the right objective, to make changes very quickly and obtain significant results.</p> </div>    <aside class="collapse" id="full-interview">    <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p><strong>To go back to the beginning, what were you like as a child?</strong></p> <p>The way I see myself as a child is that I was probably a very focused person. At the same time, I was a rebel. I’ve been always a difficult student, you know. At the same time, I was a good student. So discipline was not something that I liked too much, but I was able always to get the right grades to avoid being thrown out of the school.</p> <p><strong>How could you be focused and be a rebel at the same time?</strong></p> <p>Carlos Ghosn: You focused on what matters for you, but on what doesn’t matter for you, you’re a rebel. But you don’t know why you’re doing this, you don’t know why you’re studying this, you don’t know why these rules are being implemented. In this sense I was more a rebel person against something that I did not understand, or something that I did not accept, but on many other matters or disciplines — when I understood the reasons for which they were important, or when I got a lot of interest in them — I was able to be extremely focused and very intense.</p> <p><strong>What were you interested in?</strong></p> <p>Carlos Ghosn: When I was a child the thing I was most interested in was history, geography and languages. I hated mathematics, physics, and all the other things. But as you know, I ended up graduating doing these things versus what I was interested in.</p> <p><strong>Were there any books in particular that were important to you?</strong></p> <p>Carlos Ghosn: Oh, yes. Many, many books. I was a reader. I continued to read a lot of books and tried to read in many languages — in Portuguese, French and English — and I can spend a lot of time reading a thriller, as much as I like books about religion or philosophy or history. So I’m not focused on one particular matter. I’m very curious. One of my best hobbies, particularly when I’m in France, is spending time in the big library and I’m trying to find out what are the publications.</p> <p><strong>Were there any books in particular that influenced you when you were growing up?</strong></p> <p>Carlos Ghosn: Oh, yes. Many, many books influenced me. I can give you many, many examples. But maybe, mentioning some of them, one of the books that I found extremely interesting — but was a reading of 15 years ago probably — was named <em>The Road Less Traveled</em>. I don’t know if you know this book. It was extremely wise, very pragmatic, very down-to-earth, telling a lot of good things about what life looks like. I was struck by this book. This is probably the only book I’ve read many times and I recommended it to my children. I’m not sure they read it.</p> <p><strong>What appealed to you about the book?</strong></p> <p>Carlos Ghosn: It was about the fact that, in a certain way, life is a continuous problem-solving experience and you have to get ready for this, and you have to enjoy it, because if you don’t you’re going to have a miserable life. I found it very true in a certain way, and I found it even more true today than when I read it 15 years ago. It’s also about the fact that you’re offered a lot of opportunities in life, but from time to time you don’t see them. That’s why you think you don’t have them. From time to time you see them but you don’t take them. From time to time you take them but you fail in them, which means when they repeat, you just are not courageous enough to take them again. It was written in a very simple way, very lively way, very human way, and it struck a chord in me. I found it a very interesting book and a book that I recommend to many people.</p> <p><strong>When you were growing up did you have heroes, role models?</strong></p> <p>Carlos Ghosn: I had a lot of role models. I can’t give you the names of these role models because probably they don’t mean anything to you or to the people watching us. I found more lessons of courage and wisdom in ordinary people around me than in more renowned people. I spent a lot of time observing people and learning from them. If you can learn from many people around you, you don’t have to go for very famous people or very high-level personalities to learn.</p> <p><strong>Growing up, what was difficult for you? </strong></p> <p>Carlos Ghosn: The most difficult thing when you grow up is you feel you have a lot of energy in you. I’m sure that every person growing up feels the same kind of energy, and the biggest question is, “What are you going to use this energy for?” What’s the vision? What’s the destination? What’s your direction? What are you going to be looking for? That’s probably the most difficult thing about growing up is finding direction, finding your destination, because energy you have a lot, and hopes you have a lot, and imagination you have a lot. You just want to channel them towards something which is really what you want to do, and it’s not easy.</p> <p><strong>What were you interested in?</strong></p> <p>Carlos Ghosn: I was fascinated by education, because at school I was able to make a difference between the poor teachers and the excellent teachers. I was fascinated by some teachers and I was really bored by others, and it always bothered me to see such a difference. I tried to understand why some people are more interesting than others, even though they are doing the same job, even though they are often teaching the same subjects. And little by little I tried to observe why some teachers were interesting and why some others were boring. That’s what led me to appreciate and understand the skills necessary to be a good teacher, or to be a good educator, and this is something which helped me a lot even being in the business world.</p> <p><strong>As a trained engineer, did you anticipate you’d become best known for your skills as a manager and your managerial ability?</strong></p> <p>It happened little by little, but management abilities, usually, they are recognized if the results are significant. You start from the result. When the results are significant you recognize the management ability behind them. So in a certain way, the recognition goes more to the significant improvement made by Nissan for the last five years than on what are the management skills and talents and efforts that led to that. So the performance delivered gives credibility and attracts the attention to the means and the methods and the tools and approaches that you’ve taken. I still think that as long as you deliver a strong performance, your management is considered as attractive and meaningful. The day the performance changes, the same management is not worth a lot.</p> <p><strong>What gives you the greatest sense of satisfaction in your work?</strong></p> <p>The greatest sense of satisfaction is always about growth. When I say growth, it’s not only the growth of the company. It’s also the growth of people. Your growth, your own growth. I’ve learned a lot in the five years, and that’s what makes me extremely excited about my job. I still learn every day. Seeing people around you doing great things that they were not able to do five years ago, the same people, which means they’ve grown. They have stretched. They are different. They are better. Seeing the company, a better company, much more respected. So growth is the ultimate motivation, whether you’re talking about your personal growth or people around you — the thousands of people who are making the company — and ultimately the company itself growing in revenue, growing in market capitalization, growing in profits, growing in return on invested capital. All of this is extremely motivating, because ultimately you always want to create value, and you always want to make a difference when it comes to creating value somewhere. Some people create value by being politicians, others by being in a nonprofit association, others in business, but we are all looking for the same thing. We want to make a difference, and we make a difference where value is going to be recognized.</p> <p><strong>What do you know about management now that you didn’t know 10 or 20 years ago?</strong></p> <p>There are a lot of things that I know now that I didn’t know 20 years ago, but I don’t think that the most important thing is how much more knowledge you have accumulated. What’s the most important is how much of the knowledge that you had is transforming you. When you’re reading a book on management and you’re 20 years old you’re going to understand everything and say, “Yeah, these are the right recipes and these are the right approaches,” but it’s like reading a thriller. It’s like reading a story which is not your story. You understand but you’re not involved. You touch but you don’t feel. You look but you don’t see. When you’ve been through these experiences, and you have been sweating days and nights and being afraid and being anxious and having to support people around you, well, it’s a difficult story because it’s the same knowledge, but now it’s in you. It’s not only in your mind, it’s in your body, I would say, everywhere. That’s the difference. It’s not so much the amount of knowledge, it’s the intensity of the knowledge and how embedded is the knowledge. That’s with experience. This is the difference that experience makes.</p> <p><strong>How do you deal with anxiety? How do you cope?</strong></p> <p>Carlos Ghosn: You cope better, I would say, with experience. At the beginning, you’re scared because you don’t have the experience. But you have a little bit of the energy of youth, and from time to time the capacity — when you’re young — to forget what happened the day before and look at the day coming after, so that helps you overcome anxiety, but you’re affected by it. But with time, with experience, you learn how to make these things — you position them, in a way, where they’re not as important as they appear to you when you’re younger. There are more important things in life, and with experience you can position them in a much better way. So I would say putting them in relative order — putting them in priorities, looking back at the past, and trying to see what happens in similar experiences — alleviate the anxiety and alleviate the pressure. You get more wisdom. In a certain way it helps you — it helps you soften a little bit this anxiety. At the same time, I think this is dangerous, because if you soften it too much you may not react as fast and as strongly as you should, but you cope with it. You learn how to cope with it.</p> <p><strong>Did you have any fears of failure or self-doubt?</strong></p> <p>Carlos Ghosn: You’re always afraid to fail. Even today I’m afraid to fail. Everybody is afraid to fail, but at the same time this is a remedy to success also, because if you’re not afraid to fail you’re not going to be successful. If you approach an important task or an important challenge (with) hands in the pocket, flower in your mouth, thinking that you have everything to be successful, you’re going to be in bad shape, because you can’t ever really calculate and anticipate the kind of problems and the depth of the problems you’re going to face. So being afraid to fail is really a necessary condition — not sufficient— but a necessary condition to be eager to learn, open-minded, listening to people, betting on the team, building the team around you, because you know that you’re not going to do it alone. Fear of failure is really something extremely healthy for people in order to prepare for success.</p> <p>And the day you don’t feel these anxieties, you’re probably too old for the job. Or it means that you’re going to have to pass it on to somebody else who is going to feel this huge anxiety and this fear before the big events, and if something goes wrong, what’s going to happen. So I think it’s something which is healthy. Now if being afraid of failure paralyzes you, now you have a problem, but if it is something which stretches you, makes you more human, more open, understanding more the people around you, then it is a strength.</p> <p><strong>We’ve talked about fear of failure. What about success? Can that be a problem?</strong></p> <p>Carlos Ghosn: Oh, success can be a problem. Yes, it can be a threat. As much as failure is unpleasant, it can be extremely helpful, because, if you learn from failure, you’re preparing for future success. So when you fail, you have to analyze why you failed and try to learn from it, because you’re going to have other opportunities. And what counts ultimately is not the failure. It is how many successes you’re going to have in your life, even though you have some failures also. So failure is, in a certain way, a kind of condition for important successes. On the other side, successes can be — even though they are pleasant — they can be dangerous, because in a certain way you may forget what made the success. You may become self-centered, arrogant, and success can prepare for failure if you’re not really watching very carefully what you’re doing. So failure and success, at the same time, are mixed blessings. If you learn from failure it can carry a lot of positives for you. If you get carried away by success, it may prepare big deceptions for the future.</p> <p><strong>What haven’t you done in your life that you’d like to do?</strong></p> <p>Carlos Ghosn: There are many things I didn’t do I would have liked to do, but at the same time when you make a decision in your life, whatever it is, it is the right one by definition. There is no going back and saying, “Well, if I had taken another position, could I have been…” No. The doubt and the judgment is before. When you’ve done it, it’s automatically the right one. So I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about what could have been the other way. I’ve been excited about what I’ve been doing professionally and personally, or at the level of my family, and I consider that so far I’ve been blessed with having been given so many opportunities.</p> <p><strong>What characteristics or traits do you think are important to achievement?</strong></p> <p>Carlos Ghosn: Two things. Two words. Aspiration and motivation. With these two words, whatever field you are — politics, business, association, family, personal life — you have to make sure that you understand what are your aspirations. The people who are around you, what are their aspirations? How you can boost these aspirations? How you can develop these aspirations, and how you can help grow these aspirations, that’s what I call vision, destination, long-term plan, whatever you want to call it.</p> <p>And the second important point is the motivation. That means there is nothing you can get from anybody, including yourself, if you’re not motivated, if in a certain way you don’t sense ownership, if you don’t share in something, if you don’t embrace something.</p> <p>So the two most important words that I believe in — and I practice it under different angles in my family life, my professional life, and my personal life — is aspiration and motivation. If one of them is missing, or both of them are missing, you can’t get anything done. You can’t get anything valuable done. If you can have both of them in a project, 95 percent is going to be successful.</p> <p><strong>If young people come to you for advice, is there anything you would add to that?</strong></p> <p>Carlos Ghosn: Oh, yeah. Very simple, very clear: You miss 100 percent of the shots that you don’t take. So it doesn’t matter if you fail or if you win, but you just have to dare, be audacious, be bold, look at the direction and don’t be afraid to fail. Don’t be afraid to fail, but listen. Listen to your anxiety because it can be the best guide for you.</p> <p><strong>What do you see as the biggest challenge for the 21st century?</strong></p> <p>Carlos Ghosn: I don’t know if it’s a problem or it’s opportunity. It’s both probably. The biggest challenge for the 21st century is how can you bring people together at the same time and respect their identity. How to make people from different cultures, from different backgrounds, from different languages, different beliefs, come together, work together, change together, at the same time that this change and this working together will never be a threat to their identity. That’s what I think is going to be the major challenge of the 21st century. If we do this well, it’s a huge opportunity for humankind. And if we don’t do it well, we’re going to have a lot of problems, and this is going to be another Dark Age that we’re going to be going through. There are other threats, but this is the major one.</p> <p>The borders are disappearing. People can communicate. The tools are here. Technology is here. They are attracted to each other, but if society has no respect for difference, there is no respect for identity, the difference is not considered as a source of wealth and a source of enrichment — well, we’re going to go into a dark age for some years, and this century will not be one of the greatest centuries of humankind.</p> <p>On the contrary, if we can at the same time respect each other’s identity, strengthen your own identity, at the same time learn from people who are different from you, it’s going to be a wonderful period of time where everybody is going to grow and everybody is going to be himself.</p> <p><strong>Thank you very much, Mr. Ghosn.</strong></p> </div>  </aside>  <div class="read-more__toggle collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#full-interview"><a href="#" class="sans-4 btn">Read full interview</a></div> </article> </section> </div> <div class="tab-pane fade" id="gallery" role="tabpanel"> <section class="isotope-wrapper">  <header class="toolbar toolbar--gallery bg-white clearfix"> <div class="col-md-6"> <div class="serif-4">Carlos Ghosn Gallery</div> </div> <div class="col-md-6 text-md-right isotope-toolbar"> <ul class="list-unstyled list-inline m-b-0 text-brand-primary sans-4"> <li class="list-inline-item" data-filter=".photo"><i class="icon-icon_camera"></i>10 photos</li> </ul> </div> </header> <div class="isotope-gallery isotope-box single-achiever__gallery clearfix"> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.66710526315789" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2005-GettyImages-600011000_master.jpg" data-image-caption="May 2005: Carlos Ghosn visits the Laguna production line, with managers and staff, at the Renault factory in Sandouville. (Photo by Catherine Cabrol/Corbis via Getty Images)" data-image-copyright="France - Renault - Carlos Ghosn" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2005-GettyImages-600011000_master-380x253.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2005-GettyImages-600011000_master-760x507.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.4990138067061" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2017-GettyImages-688813816_master.jpg" data-image-caption="May 26, 2017: Carlos Ghosn and his wife, Carole, attend <i>L'Amant Double</i> red carpet arrivals during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France. (Photo by Gisela Schober/Getty Images)" data-image-copyright=""Amant Double (L'Amant Double')" Red Carpet Arrivals - The 70th Annual Cannes Film Festival" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2017-GettyImages-688813816_master-253x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2017-GettyImages-688813816_master-507x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.66710526315789" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/wp-nissan-ceo-carlos-ghosn-presenting-at-company-annual-meeting-yokohama-jun-2015_100516368_h.jpg" data-image-caption="2015: Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn presenting at a company annual meeting in Yokohama, Japan." data-image-copyright="wp-nissan-ceo-carlos-ghosn-presenting-at-company-annual-meeting-yokohama-jun-2015_100516368_h" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/wp-nissan-ceo-carlos-ghosn-presenting-at-company-annual-meeting-yokohama-jun-2015_100516368_h-380x254.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2017/08/wp-nissan-ceo-carlos-ghosn-presenting-at-company-annual-meeting-yokohama-jun-2015_100516368_h-760x507.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.63552631578947" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2016-GettyImages-611411038_master.jpg" data-image-caption="September 29, 2016: Carlos Ghosn, chief executive officer of Renault SA and Nissan Motor, after the presentation of the new Nissan Micra automobile during the press day of the Paris Motor Show in Paris, France. The Paris Motor Show will showcase the latest models from the auto industry's leading manufacturers at the Paris Expo exhibition centre. (Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images)" data-image-copyright="Press Preview Prior the 'Mondial De L'Automobile' - Paris Motorshow 2016 At Porte de Versailles" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2016-GettyImages-611411038_master-380x241.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2016-GettyImages-611411038_master-760x483.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.62236842105263" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2014-GettyImages-456408904_master.jpg" data-image-caption="2014: French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron and Carlos Ghosn take part in the inauguration of a new production plant of the French car maker Renault in Sandouville, France. Renault inaugurated a new production line for its redesigned Trafic cargo van, and announced it will build a version of it for Fiat on the line starting in the second quarter of 2016. (Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images)" data-image-copyright="Emmanuel Macron, French Minister of Economy Visits The Renault Factory" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2014-GettyImages-456408904_master-380x236.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2014-GettyImages-456408904_master-760x473.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.59210526315789" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2013-GettyImages-188152359_master.jpg" data-image-caption="November 15, 2013: Carlos Ghosn, with three of his four children — Anthony, Maya and Caroline Ghosn — attend the 2013 Trophee Des Arts gala in New York City. (Photo by Jim Spellman/WireImage)" data-image-copyright="2013 Trophee Des Arts Gala" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2013-GettyImages-188152359_master-380x225.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2013-GettyImages-188152359_master-760x450.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.66710526315789" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2005-gettyimages-94814261.jpg" data-image-caption="April 2005: Louis Schweitzer, right, non-executive chairman of Renault, symbolically gives the keys of a Renault car to Carlos Ghosn, new chief executive of Renault, at the annual general meeting in Paris, France. Ghosn succeeded Schweitzer as the chief executive of Renault. (Photo by Lucas Schifres/Bloomberg via Getty Images)" data-image-copyright="Louis Schweitzer, right, non-executive chairman of Renault," data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2005-gettyimages-94814261-380x253.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2005-gettyimages-94814261-760x507.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.58157894736842" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2000-GettyImages-51343934.jpg" data-image-caption="October 2000: Nissan Motors President and CEO Carlos Ghosn during a press conference on the progress of the Nissan Revival Plan in Tokyo. (TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images)" data-image-copyright="Nissan Motors President and CEO Carlos Ghosn gestu" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2000-GettyImages-51343934-380x221.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2000-GettyImages-51343934-760x442.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.75131578947368" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/C3Jr_ZzVUAEMkcu.jpg-large.jpg" data-image-caption="Carlos Ghosn, at age 26, managing a Michelin plant in France. Ghosn was born in Brazil but spent much of his childhood in Lebanon. After high school, he moved to France to attend Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole des Mines in Paris. At the age of 24, foregoing further studies, he joined The Michelin Company in France." data-image-copyright="C3Jr_ZzVUAEMkcu.jpg large" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/C3Jr_ZzVUAEMkcu.jpg-large-380x286.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2017/08/C3Jr_ZzVUAEMkcu.jpg-large-760x571.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/ghosn-bio-2004-square-2004-chicago_1185_JFR-copy.png" data-image-caption="Carlos Ghosn receives the Golden Plate Award from Awards Council member, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, Gen. Wesley Clark, USA, at the American Academy of Achievement's 2004 ceremonies in Chicago, Illinois." data-image-copyright="ghosn-bio-2004-square-2004-chicago_1185_JFR-copy" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/ghosn-bio-2004-square-2004-chicago_1185_JFR-copy-380x380.png [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2017/08/ghosn-bio-2004-square-2004-chicago_1185_JFR-copy-760x760.png"></div>  </figure>    </div> </section> </div> </div> <div class="container"> <footer class="editorial-article__footer col-md-8 col-md-offset-4"> <div class="editorial-article__next-link sans-3"> <a href="#"><strong>What's next:</strong> <span class="editorial-article__next-link-title">profile</span></a> </div> <ul class="social list-unstyled list-inline ssk-group m-b-0"> <li class="list-inline-item"><a href="" class="ssk ssk-facebook" data-gtm-category="social" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Shared Achiever on Facebook"><i class="icon-icon_facebook-circle"></i></a></li> <li class="list-inline-item"><a href="" class="ssk ssk-twitter" data-gtm-category="social" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Shared Achiever on Twitter"><i class="icon-icon_twitter-circle"></i></a></li>  <li class="list-inline-item"><a href="" class="ssk ssk-email" data-gtm-category="social" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Shared Achiever via Email"><i class="icon-icon_email-circle"></i></a></li> </ul> <time class="editorial-article__last-updated sans-6">This page last revised on November 19, 2018</time> <div class="sans-4"><a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/how-to-cite" target="_blank">How to cite this page</a></div> </footer> </div> <div class="container interview-related-achievers"> <hr class="m-t-3 m-b-3"/> <footer class="clearfix small-blocks text-xs-center"> <h3 class="m-b-3 serif-3">If you are inspired by this achiever’s story, you might also enjoy:</h3> <div class="centered-blocks"> <div class="isotope-achiever business difficulty-with-school analytical curious ambitious start-a-business " data-year-inducted="2012" data-achiever-name="Dalio"> <div class="achiever-block view-grid"> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ray-dalio/"> <figure class="ratio-container ratio-container--square bg-black"> <div class="lazyload box achiever-block__image" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/dal1-001a-190x190.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/03/dal1-001a-380x380.jpg"></div> <div class="achiever-block__overlay"></div> <figcaption class="text-xs-center achiever-block__text"> <div class="display--table"> <div class="display--table-cell"> <div class="achiever-block__text--center"> <div class="achiever-block__name text-brand-primary">Ray Dalio</div> <div class="achiever-block__known-as text-white sans-6">Hedge Fund Master</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="text-white achiever-block__text--bottom"> <div class="achiever-block__year sans-4">Inducted in <span class="year-inducted">2012</span></div> </div> </figcaption> </figure> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="centered-blocks"> <div class="isotope-achiever business ambitious analytical curious build-or-create-things start-a-business help-mankind " data-year-inducted="1992" data-achiever-name="Gates"> <div class="achiever-block view-grid"> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/william-h-gates-iii/"> <figure class="ratio-container ratio-container--square bg-black"> <div class="lazyload box achiever-block__image" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/gat0-001a-190x190.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/gat0-001a-380x380.jpg"></div> <div class="achiever-block__overlay"></div> <figcaption class="text-xs-center achiever-block__text"> <div class="display--table"> <div class="display--table-cell"> <div class="achiever-block__text--center"> <div class="achiever-block__name text-brand-primary">William H. 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Fauci, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sally-field/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sally Field</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/lord-norman-foster/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lord Norman Foster</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/aretha-franklin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Aretha Franklin</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/milton-friedman-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Milton Friedman, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carlos-fuentes/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carlos Fuentes</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/athol-fugard/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Athol Fugard</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ernest-j-gaines/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ernest J. Gaines</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/william-h-gates-iii/"><span class="achiever-list-name">William H. Gates III</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/leymah-gbowee/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Leymah Gbowee</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/frank-gehry/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frank O. Gehry</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/murray-gell-mann-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Murray Gell-Mann, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carlos-ghosn/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carlos Ghosn</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/vince-gill/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Vince Gill</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ruth-bader-ginsburg/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/louise-gluck/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Louise Glück</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/whoopi-goldberg/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Whoopi Goldberg</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/jane-goodall/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dame Jane Goodall</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/doris-kearns-goodwin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Doris Kearns Goodwin, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/mikhail-s-gorbachev/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Mikhail S. Gorbachev</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/nadine-gordimer/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Nadine Gordimer</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/stephen-jay-gould/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Stephen Jay Gould, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carol-greider-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carol Greider, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/john-grisham/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Grisham</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sir-john-gurdon/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sir John Gurdon</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/dorothy-hamill/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dorothy Hamill</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/demis-hassabis-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Demis Hassabis, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/lauryn-hill/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lauryn Hill</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sir-edmund-hillary/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sir Edmund Hillary</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/reid-hoffman/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Reid Hoffman</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/khaled-hosseini/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Khaled Hosseini, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ron-howard/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ron Howard</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/john-hume/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Hume</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/louis-ignarro-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Louis Ignarro, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/daniel-inouye/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Daniel K. Inouye</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/jeremy-irons/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jeremy Irons</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/john-irving/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Irving</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/kazuo-ishiguro/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Kazuo Ishiguro</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sir-peter-jackson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sir Peter Jackson</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/donald-c-johanson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Donald C. Johanson, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/frank-m-johnson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frank M. Johnson, Jr.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/philip-johnson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Philip C. Johnson</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/chuck-jones/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Chuck Jones</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/james-earl-jones/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James Earl Jones</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/quincy-jones/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Quincy Jones</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/beverly-joubert/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Beverly Joubert</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/dereck-joubert/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dereck Joubert</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/paul-kagame/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Paul Kagame</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/thomas-keller-2/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Thomas Keller</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/anthony-m-kennedy/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Anthony M. Kennedy</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/b-b-king/"><span class="achiever-list-name">B.B. King</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carole-king/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carole King</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/coretta-scott-king/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Coretta Scott King</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/henry-kissinger-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Henry A. Kissinger, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/willem-j-kolff/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Willem J. Kolff, M.D., Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/wendy-kopp/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Wendy Kopp</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/henry-r-kravis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Henry R. Kravis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/nicholas-d-kristof/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Nicholas D. Kristof</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/mike-krzyzewski/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Mike Krzyzewski</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ray-kurzwell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ray Kurzweil</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/eric-lander-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Eric S. Lander, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/robert-s-langer-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Robert S. Langer, Sc.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/richard-leakey/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Richard E. Leakey</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/leon-lederman-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Leon Lederman, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/robert-lefkowitz-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Robert J. Lefkowitz, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/congressman-john-r-lewis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Congressman John R. Lewis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/maya-lin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Maya Lin</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/george-lucas/"><span class="achiever-list-name">George Lucas</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/norman-mailer/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Norman Mailer</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/peyton-manning/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Peyton Manning</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/wynton-marsalis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Wynton Marsalis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/john-c-mather-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John C. Mather, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/johnny-mathis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Johnny Mathis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ernst-mayr-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ernst Mayr, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/willie-mays/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Willie Mays</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/frank-mccourt/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frank McCourt</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/david-mccullough/"><span class="achiever-list-name">David McCullough</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/audra-mcdonald/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Audra McDonald</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/admiral-william-h-mcraven/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Admiral William H. McRaven, USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/w-s-merwin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">W. S. Merwin</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/james-a-michener/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James A. Michener</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/marvin-minsky-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Marvin Minsky, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/mario-j-molina-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Mario J. Molina, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/n-scott-momaday-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">N. Scott Momaday, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/story-musgrave/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Story Musgrave, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ralph-nader/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ralph Nader</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/peggy-noonan/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Peggy Noonan</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/jessye-norman/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jessye Norman</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/tommy-norris/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lt. Thomas R. Norris, USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/joyce-carol-oates/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Joyce Carol Oates</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/pierre-omidyar/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Pierre Omidyar</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/jimmy-page/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jimmy Page</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/larry-page/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Larry Page</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/arnold-palmer/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Arnold Palmer</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/leon-panetta/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Leon Panetta</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/rosa-parks/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Rosa Parks</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/suzan-lori-parks/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Suzan-Lori Parks</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/linus-pauling/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Linus C. Pauling, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/shimon-peres/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Shimon Peres</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/itzhak-perlman/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Itzhak Perlman</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/general-david-petraeus/"><span class="achiever-list-name">General David H. Petraeus, USA</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sidney-poitier/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sidney Poitier</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/general-colin-l-powell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">General Colin L. Powell, USA</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/harold-prince/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Harold Prince</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/venki-ramakrishnan-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Venki Ramakrishnan, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/lord-martin-rees/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lord Martin Rees</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/lloyd-richards/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lloyd Richards</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sally-ride-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sally K. Ride, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sonny-rollins/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sonny Rollins</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/anthony-romero/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Anthony Romero</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/james-rosenquist/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James Rosenquist</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/pete-rozelle/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Pete Rozelle</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/bill-russell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Bill Russell</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/albie-sachs/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Albie Sachs</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/oliver-sacks-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Oliver Sacks, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/jonas-salk-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jonas Salk, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/frederick-sanger-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frederick Sanger, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/george-b-schaller-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">George B. Schaller, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/barry-scheck/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Barry Scheck</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/richard-evans-schultes-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Richard Evans Schultes, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/general-h-norman-schwarzkopf/"><span class="achiever-list-name">General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, USA</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/stephen-schwarzman/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Stephen A. Schwarzman</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/glenn-t-seaborg-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Glenn T. Seaborg, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/neil-sheehan/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Neil Sheehan</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/admiral-alan-shepard-jr/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Admiral Alan B. Shepard, Jr., USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ellen-johnson-sirleaf/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ellen Johnson Sirleaf</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carlos-slim/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carlos Slim Helú</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/frederick-w-smith/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frederick W. Smith</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/stephen-sondheim/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Stephen Sondheim</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sonia-sotomayor/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sonia Sotomayor</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/wole-soyinka/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Wole Soyinka</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/esperanza-spalding/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Esperanza Spalding</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/martha-stewart/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Martha Stewart</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/admiral-james-b-stockdale/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Admiral James B. Stockdale, USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/hilary-swank/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Hilary Swank</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/amy-tan/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Amy Tan</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/dame-kiri-te-kanawa/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dame Kiri Te Kanawa</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/edward-teller-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Edward Teller, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/twyla-tharp/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Twyla Tharp</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/wayne-thiebaud/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Wayne Thiebaud</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/lt-michael-e-thornton-usn/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lt. Michael E. Thornton, USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20190107132313/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/charles-h-townes-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Charles H. 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