Nissan’s Former COO Receives $3.7 Million Compensation Upon Departure
YOKOHAMA, Japan – Nissan Motor recently disclosed that it paid former Chief Operating Officer Ashwani Gupta $3.7 million in compensation after his sudden departure last year. The Japanese automaker revealed this information in a notice for its annual general meeting, stating that they had paid 582 million yen ($3.7 million) to an executive officer who left his position during the 2023 business year. Gupta was the sole executive officer to depart during that time, as confirmed by a company spokesperson.
In May of last year, Japan’s third-largest automaker by volume announced that Gupta, who had served as chief operating officer since 2019 and was considered a front runner for the CEO position, would not be reappointed to the board.
Additionally, Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida stated during a press conference on Friday that he would be returning 30% of his pay for three months starting from April. This decision came after a warning from Japan’s fair trade watchdog regarding the automaker’s underpayment of suppliers. In March, the watchdog flagged Nissan for violating Japan’s Subcontractor Law by underpaying 36 suppliers by a total of about 3 billion yen over a two-year period starting from January 2021.
In response to the violation, Nissan fully refunded the suppliers for the deducted amounts, established a unit under the CEO to collect feedback from suppliers, and set up an external hotline for related matters. The Subcontractor Law strictly prohibits the ordering party from unilaterally reducing payment when the subcontractor is not at fault.
( $1 = 157.3100 yen )