Boundless: The Rise, Fall, and Escape of Carlos Ghosn

by Nick Kostov, Sean McClain

The unprecedented rise and catastrophic fall of one of the world's most feared and admired business executives--Carlos Ghosn--a remarkable story of innovation, hubris, alleged crimes, and daring international escape, as chronicled by two Wall Street Journal reporters.

Carlos Ghosn always wanted more. Born in the Amazon, raised by a well-off--if scandalized--family in Beirut, and educated in Paris, Ghosn rose to prominence at Michelin in the United States, Renault in France, and Nissan in Japan. Along the way he earned monikers of Le Cost Killer, for his incisive business savvy, and Mr. 7-Eleven, for the hours he devoted to his work.

Initially Ghosn thrived, becoming a poster boy for globalization and multinational corporations. Employees believed him to be among the greatest business minds of his generation, and the press hailed him a financial genius. The trouble started when Ghosn began to believe them. His power rose in tandem with an increasing certainty that he was underpaid and undervalued at his multiple posts. Executives grew unhappy with Ghosn's talk of a merger with Renault, calling his loyalty to Nissan into question. Resentments brewed, enough so that a group of Nissan executives set out to uncover the truth about the man who many throughout Nissan and Japan perceived as a savior. Eventually, Ghosn was accused of financial misconduct and arrested for a bevy of alleged crimes--all of which he vehemently denied.

Yet even as he insisted his financial transactions were above board, Ghosn was planning an astounding escape, one that would either smuggle him out of Tokyo and back to his ancestral homeland of Lebanon; or land him in a Japanese prison for life.

Drawing from intensive investigative reporting, and including never-before-seen insider details from key players in Ghosn's life and the investigations into him, Nick Kostov and Sean McLain piece together this fallen icon's life and actions across the globe. Their sensational globetrotting adventure reveals the complexity of a man who watched for decades as contemporaries with far less talent amassed far greater wealth, and who took drastic measures to ensure he would finally get his due.

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Biography, History, Audiobook, Japan, True Crime

320 pages, Hardcover

Published August 9, 2022

Reviews

[Harini Dedhia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boundless is a gripping, fast paced read on the rise and fall of an industry giant. To me though it was a great read that exposes a phenomenon I witnessed in politics to be true in business as well- the revolutionaries are not good administrators; the turnaround specialists are not good at plain vanilla organic growth.

Despite the thorough research done by Kostov and McClain, they don’t lose the fluidity in their narration of the story. The details are presented with such a command over story-telling that the book reads like a screenplay for a gripping docuseries.

The story starts at the Carlos Ghosn’s origin, his tangible successes. These are then juxtaposed with the what their outcome is- a brash, brazen Carlos Ghosn who dons an attitude of ‘I am invincible’. While in the most positive context (and in the first half of this story) hope is the defining human quality, in the negative part of the story, hubris becomes the most defining quality. Hubris- a sense of complete belief in one’s self, abilities to the point of not leaving any room for hope, is shown as the opposite of hope. For me, this was a new take away.

A great read for anyone that enjoys business stories or even better, character stories.

[Martish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could not put this book down once I started - it has rags to riches, inspiration, greed, hubris and an incredible escape story. Highly recommended!

[Simonas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Galima sakyti jau eilinė verslo-nuotykių knyga - patinka man tokios. Šį kartą "Boundless" apie gana žinomą istoriją, kaip libanietis-amerikietis-brazilas CEO iš Renault CEO pozicijos bandė sujingti Renault su Nissan, bet užlėkė ant japonų pykčio, buvo pasodintas Japonijoje ir supakuotas į dėžę pabėgo iš tos šalies private jet'u. Būtent paskutinė istorijos dalis buvo garsiai nušviesta žiniasklaidoje, o šios knygos du trečdaliai yra chronologinė istorija, kaip jis iki to atėjo. Labai įdomu.

[Jon Davids · Rating 4 out of 5]

I followed this story real time in the news, which was limited by a typically politicized, sensationalist interpretation of events, but with incomplete knowledge of the backstory and what was actually going on. This book rectifies this by providing a comprehensive review of Ghosen's upbringing and career, details about his escape, and the consequences for all involved. Ghosen comes across as a typical high end CEO...talented, hard working, but utimately excessively hubristic and self-entitled.

[Hugh · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was fine. The beginning and end were great - Ghosn really was a business prodigy and the part of the book detailing his rise was good.

The ending of the book was good - the escape and the aftermath was told well and kept me up later than it should have.

The crimes were boring though. Smart guy makes company successful then treats it like personal piggy bank! Maybe in another era where WeWork or Uber or Theranos didn't just happen, this would have hit harder.

Didn't dislike it, but it wasn't really memorable.

[Steve Brock · Rating 5 out of 5]

As Stevo’s Novel Ideas, I am a long-time book reviewer, member of the media, an Influencer, and a content provider. I received this book as a free review copy from either the publisher, a publicist, or the author, and have not been otherwide compensated for reviewing or recommending it. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

This book was Stevo's Business Book of the Week for the week of 8/7, as selected by Stevo's Book Reviews on the Internet and Stevo's Novel Ideas. The unprecedented rise and catastrophic fall of one of the world’s most feared and admired business executives—Carlos Ghosn—a remarkable story of innovation, hubris, alleged crimes, and daring international escape.

Ghosn's rise and fall is one of those "truth stranger than fiction" stories. Over the last two years, even if you don't follow the ups and downs of business executives, you couldn't help but be mesmerized by the headlines as Goshn rose to become a much-celebrated CEO of the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance, stepping down in 2017 and being arrested for gross misuse of company funds, escaping from Japan to Lebanon in 2019 hidden in a box, and permanently residing in Beirut while pleading his innocence.

"Boundless" finds Ghosn a driven man who, enjoying a meteoric rise through management roles at Renault and Nissan, still felt less-than-adequately compensated and funneled company assets into his private accounts. Though there is no extradition agreement between Japan and Lebanon, Ghosn is still being investigated by France and fears arrest. Well-researched and an exciting and informative read, "Boundless" is a page-turner.

Find more Business Books of the Week on my Goodreads Listopia page at https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9..., and find many more reviewed and recommended books and products by searching for me on Google.

[Abhishek Dafria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nick Kostov provides a very well-rounded narrative on Carlos Ghosn that encompasses pretty much everything we would want to know - his upbringing in Brazil and Lebanon, his move to France, his start in the automobile industry at Michelin, his move to Renault, his role as CEO at Nissan and then the otherwise unthinkable task of managing both Renault and Nissan. Then of course comes the downfall with his legal cases in Japan and the extraordinary escape from the country to Lebanon where he now resides. The man’s life is worth a story but it also depends on the one who narrates it, and Kostov gets it right in the way he shapes up the strong and powerful image of Ghosn - a man who worked hard to rise up the ranks - for the reader while also presenting the downsides to unsupervised power. Kostov does not judge nor lambast nor hero-worship the man at the centre of this book - but he helps the reader to understand the mind of Ghosn and his actions and then we are the ones who can choose to judge if we wish to. Carlos Ghosn’s story is one of the most interesting ones from the business world in our times and thanks to Kostov’s book, it would be available for future generations to ponder on even years later…

[Diego Pignatelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A towering figure that flew too close to the sun. Many come out poorly from this book. First, Ghosn himself, employing his sister, the odd purchase of the boat, and of course the Omani issue leave an indelible black mark.
He also ended up badly damaging countless other people that got dragged into his mess, like the Omani and Saudi business men (foolish), his own family members that are trashed, his wife that can no longer travel.

Then there is Japan judicial system that comes out very poorly. Certainly not of a top democratic country.
Then there is the abuse of the expense account which the authors should have pointed out is the way Japan operates. Tight on paying people but close their eyes on the use and abuse of the expense account until it’s time to turn the table.
Everyone comes out badly but the ultimate losers are the employees that are now working for an also-ran company. Sad outcome.

[Santosh Shetty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic ! Given the diversity of interested parties, with each finding themselves as the aggrieved party; Nick did a tremendous job of providing a very balanced / nuanced view where you come off post-reading that almost all the parties had something to do with this situations and need to own up their mistakes as well.

My biggest takeaway from the book POV -

1) The harsh judicial system of Japan (~99% conviction rate)
2) Ghosn time at Nissan and the payment arrangements were not Kosher. He was a great CEO but he should have avoided some of those shady transactions. He is not in the clear, but justice was overly harsh.
3) Nissan drove most of the prosecution, hand and glove with Justice - plenty of people at Nissan should have been incarcerated
4) No idea what Renault wanted all this time. French couldn't protect their CEO, their interests, or their vision
5) The American Taylor - just too good and ballsy.

[Ken Saunders · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Nissan's financials were already looking far better than anybody- including Ghosn and his team, who were scratching their heads and trying to understand why the numbers were looking so good, so quickly- had expected."

That sums up the level of insight and prose these writers bring to Ghosn's accomplishments and downfall. Given that Nissan and Renault had to turn to governments of France and Japan more than once for bailouts during financial downturns, Ghosn's efforts to avoid French and Japanese demands on executive pay that accompanied the government assistance kicked off a series of devastating betrayals that deserve a better account than this. The writers come across as petty and imply Ghosn devolved into a reckless, self-pitying ego maniac as soon as he didn't have a father figure in an overseeing role to impress anymore. They should probably stick to fiction.

[Arthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carlos Ghosn's life is a case of a spectacular rise followed by a spectacular fall. He had it all - so why risk it all? There is no denying his remarkable success in turning around the fortunes of Renault and later Nissan. But it seems he felt the compensation he received was not enough which let to tangled financial constructions which crossed the line between business and private in the eyes of the law. His escape from Japan provides for a caper element to the story, even though this was not quite a flawless operation and could have been prevented if signals along the way had been picked up. There is a substantial fallout from this event, ultimately all caused by the protagonist's hubris. Overall, a thrilling and fascinating story very well told by the authors.

[Jbussen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I may try to read this book again. I just generally don't like books on fucking human scumbags unless they get their comeuppance. Interesting yes. Well written, sure. Worthy subject. Depends on the audience I guess. I read a book written by Henry Hill's children. Awesome!~! A Henry Hill autobiography? Maybe. I guess my beef is this A-hole is still alive and living the good life in Lebanon. I think Japan should go get him by force. It is a fallacy that Japan is unarmed since they are pacifist.
GO KILL HIM JAPAN! & all those who would shelter him.

Top 10 Most Powerful Navies in the World (by total tonnage - 2014):
United States - 3,415,893
Russia - 845,739
China - 708,886
Japan - 413,800
United Kingdom - 367,850
France - 319,195

[Wouterman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book describes the Carlos Ghosn playbook as a brilliant businessman:

- Delegate responsibility to inter-disciplinary teams
- Set clear and ambitious objectives for those teams (for example 20% cost reduction)
- First fix profitability and then grow

The playbook has worked at Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi. At the end of his tenure, this alliance was the biggest car maker in the world, trumping Toyota and Volkswagen. After he left, it crashed down.

The lesson, it seems, is that you need a benevolent dictator in business to really push the organization to achieve ambitious goals. After he left, the much less ambitious executives “minded the shop” at the most.

Also, he clearly committed crimes at Renault and Nissan, the revelation of the trail is really interesting.

[Michael M · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book reads like a thriller as the authors recount Ghosn's escape from Japan. They are meticulous in unearthing details of the financial dealings that prosecutors and enemies ultimately used to bring him down. I'm not opining on whether it was illegal, but it doesn't smell quite right. I appreciate the authors bringing it all to light. However, they want to drive their narrative so they gloss over Ghosn's considerable accomplishments and fixate on examples of wealth. Ghosn continually asserts he was underpaid, but the authors never put this in context. Was he or wasn't he? The authors just think a high dollar amount will cast their protagonist in the light they need. The authors do cast a harsh light on the Japanese legal system, which seems deserved.

[Sidney Wheatley · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is an inherent problem with a book like this. The life of Carlos Ghosn does not really warrant a book, while interesting, it's not exactly riveting. I got the book to learn more about the actual escape out of Japan and the aftermath which are truly fascinating. Sadly, there is not enough there to fill more than two chapters.

So we are left with the biography of a man no one *really* cares about and a heist that could have been a blog post.

[John R · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much content here and mostly (very) well presented. But seemed rushed at times. Maybe competing project and race to publish? Or Bloomberg mandate to keep length manageable? This easily could have been a 700+ page book, which is too bad because author did a good investigative job in half the space. Still seems like so much more to know and explore!

[Jay Vinayak · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cracking read that details the fascinating ascent of the Ghosn clan. It lays out most of the facts (except the details of the so-called ‘Oman Route’, which are yet to be revealed), and presents a picture of a man in full. It avoids, quite wisely, telling the story as a simplistic morality play and instead focuses on ‘the action’, of which there is plenty.

[CatReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though not as electrifying or sensational as John Carreyrou's Bad Blood (the rise and fall of Theranos) or Reeves Wiedeman's Billion Dollar Loser (the rise and fall of WeWork), Kostov and McLain craft an intriguing, action-packed tale of Carlos Ghosn, the high-flying auto executive-turned-fugitive after some shady business dealings. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, it turns out.

[Pratik Kothari · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gripping, fast-paced read on the rise and fall of Carlos Ghosn, a doyen of the auto industry. Very well-written, easy-to-read, fluid narration. Talks about how Carlos comes from a humble background was hardworking and skilled and was very successful early on but that went to his head later which marked his fall.

[Lalit Pamnani · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a fascinating real story. I liked the book for giving a good background and wonderful storytelling.
It's a real life story of Man who once was admired in the auto industry for doing a wonderful job as CEO of Nissan and Renault (alliance of Japanese and French companies) and after a long successful tenure there was a chain of events which changed everything.

[Aditya Trivedi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story about Carlos Ghosn's life will stupefy anyone who reads this gem of a book.
Presented without any bias, the book starts with previous generations of the Ghosn family, and goes all the way to Carlos' famous escape from Japan in a box. A thrilling read overall, and I again (after Bad Blood) found it hard to believe that this ISN'T fiction.

[Aditya Kapur · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is a riveting story of one of most celebrated Automobile leaders of its time. A book necessary to be read by everyone but especially people who are the start of their professional careers. A tell all tale of how a self proclaimed hero wrote his own downfall.

Thanks for putting it together Nick & Steve !

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast paced, interesting, well-written story. It’s sad that such a talented businessman, who had risen to the top of the world, caused his own downfall - and hurt his family and others on the way down. Who really needs a $120,000,000 yacht? He said his only regret was not taking the job offer at General Motors. Maybe his career would have turned out differently.

[Chelsea Telfer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It’s everything I love about business books. Gripping from the start, the book details the meteoric rise of Carlos Ghosn, the future CEO of Nissan and Renault. As quickly as his rise was his downfall, with accusations of money laundering and fraud. This is one of my favourite business books of all time.

[Ruzaan Sig · Rating 4 out of 5]

a good book on the turmoil

Fast and Furious look on the once industry veteran. Easy read and goes like a thriller. Highly recommend for anyone interested to understand the entire saga

[Amy Heinz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating story about a very driven and brilliant executive’s rise, greed and ultimate collapse. His daring escape from Japan was the motivation for my read. Even though this was a pretty good book throughout, Ai had to wait until the final quarter of the book for the story that drew me in.

[Irene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well researched and fairly reported, the writers, journalists, allow the reader to decide or ponder Goshn’s exalted career and his pitfalls as well as the animosity of the Nissan and Renault and the governments that pursued Goshn.

[Ed Carhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Repetitive with the facts and far too detailed. Ghosn is a brilliant man who was supremely greedy and underhanded and I get it he's guilty. That said, I enjoyed the story especially the time leading up to the escape from Japan.

[Pamela Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting treatise on greed and avarice

I remember Mr. Ghosn from real estate news years back. The details of his life are fascinating and at times frightening. A very good read.

[Mamoon Staya · Rating 5 out of 5]

There should be an action movie made based on this book and a story to be told about business globalization, sacrifice , family, love , friendship, networking and justice or lack of justice. Very entertaining I give it 5 stars