Carlos Ghosn was born on 9 March 1954, in Porto Velho, Brazil, of Brazilian, Lebanese and French descent, and is a businessman, best known as the Chairman and CEO of Renault, Chairman and CEO of Nissan, and Chairman of Mitsubishi Motors.
An outstanding entrepreneur, how wealthy is Carlos Ghosn? Sources state that Ghosn has acquired a net worth of over $50 million, as of early 2017, accumulated largely through his involvement in the automotive industry. His assets include homes in Japan, France and Brazil.
Carlos Ghosn Net Worth $50 Million
Ghosn got sick after drinking unsanitary water when he was two years old, and his mother moved with him first to Rio de Janeiro, and then at the age of six, to Beirut, Lebanon. There he attended the Jesuit Collège Notre-Dame de Jamhour. He eventually moved to engineering schools in Paris, France, where he obtained degrees from the École Polytechnique and the École des Mines de Paris.
After completing his education in 1978, Ghosn began working as a management trainee with the biggest French automotive supplier, Michelin. He was soon promoted to head of research for the development of industrial tires, and was later moved to Brazil to lead the company’s unprofitable and struggling operations in Rio de Janeiro, as Chief Operating Officer. The operation became profitable in just two years through Ghosn’s brilliant management style, and in 1989 he was appointed to Michelin North America as President and COO. The following year he became the CEO and Chairman, engineering a merger with domestic tire-maker Uniroyal Goodrich. His net worth was certainly already well advanced.
In 1996 Ghosn joined the French automaker Renault, becoming the company’s Executive Vice President dealing with purchases, research, engineering and development, and manufacturing, and managing its South American division. At the time, Renault was facing problems with profitability, and Ghosn managed to restructure the company in a rather radical way, returning it to profitability within only a year. His popularity was boosted, and his wealth greatly improved.
In 1999 he bought a 36.8% stake in the Japanese automobile manufacturer Nissan, and joined the company, soon becoming its President and CEO, keeping his positions in Renault as well. At the time, Nissan was saddled with $20 billion in debt and very few of its models were generating profit. While the task to turn around the future of the company was almost impossible, Ghosn once again succeeded in it, using his radical methods, which included cutting jobs, plants and suppliers, raising Nissan’s profits from their loss of over $6 billion to a profit of $2.7 billion in only a year. Within three years the company became one of the most profitable auto makers. All contributed to Ghosn’s popularity in the industry, and to his net worth as well.
In 2005, he became the President and CEO of Renault, being the first person in the world to run two global Fortune 500 companies simultaneously.
Two years later, as the Chairman and CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, which have been strategic partners since 1999, Ghosn decided to spend €uros four billion so Renault and Nissan could together create a lineup of electric cars, such as the Nissan Leaf, known as ‘the world’s first affordable zero-emission car’.
In 2008 he was named Chairman, President, and CEO of Nissan, and the following year the Chairman and CEO of Renault.
In 2012 he became Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of Russian automobile manufacturer AvtoVAZ, Renault-Nissan Alliance’s partner, and the following year he was named the company’s Chairman, holding the position until 2016.
When Nissan purchased a 34% stake in Mitsubishi Motors in 2016, Ghosn was named Chairman of Mitsubishi too, improving his wealth once again.
A notable businessman, known as one of the automobile industry’s great turnaround artists, Ghosn has served on several boards and councils. He has received a number of awards and honors for his contribution to the industry, and his successful managing has enabled him to establish an amazing fortune.
In his private life, Ghosn is divorced, and has four children with his ex-wife.
