Osamu Nagayama, who chairs Toshiba Corp.’s board of directors, at an online news conference on June 14 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Toshiba Corp. shareholders ousted the chairman of the board on Friday, delivering a powerful rebuke to the company after management was found to have colluded with the Japanese government to put pressure on foreign investors.
The unexpected removal of chairman Osamu Nagayama, a veteran of corporate Japan, and another director marked a clear victory for corporate governance, and sent a strong signal about overseas investors' ability to push through change even at one of Japan Inc's most storied conglomerates. The board said it would undertake a full review of assets and devise a plan to create growth via dividends and buying back shares. It would also engage with potential investors, it said, comments that could spark tension with the government, which regards Toshiba as a strategic asset.