ABSTRACT
By the mid-1990s, Olympus faced losses that reached 100 billion yen as a result of poor investments in financial assets during the bubble. In April 2011, the arrival of Michael Woodford as chief executive officer (CEO) of Olympus caused a crisis in the company. In October, having not been able to secure an explanation from Olympus's executives, Woodford sent a dossier on the Gyrus acquisition to Pricewaterhouse Coopers, who responded that it was possible that illegal acts had taken place and directors had violated their duty of loyalty. In January 2012, Olympus filed suits with the Tokyo District Court, seeking to establish liability of directors and auditors of Olympus, and the Tokyo Stock Exchange imposed a penalty of 10 million yen on Olympus for a listing agreement violation. In January 2012 Olympus sued 19 current and former executives for $47 million in damages, and Woodford filed suit for wrongful dismissal and subsequently campaigned among leading investors for changes at Olympus.
