Ghosn has tales to tell and scores to settle

Carlos Ghosn has spent more than a year trapped in a Japanese legal odyssey that’s transfixed the automotive world and thrown his life into chaos. Now, having pulled off a daring escape from Japan to Lebanon, he’s an international fugitive.

But the executive is also free to speak his mind fully, without legal filtering, for the first time since his surprise arrest on the tarmac at Haneda airport in November 2018. And this much seems likely: The former Renault-Nissan chief has stories to tell and scores to settle.

At stake is Ghosn’s entire legacy. Will he be remembered as the brilliant, cost-cutting manager who rescued Nissan and built one of mightiest auto alliances in the industry? Or will he be just another name in a hall of infamy of white-collar fugitives?

Ghosn said in his statement from Lebanon on Tuesday that he would “finally communicate freely with the media, and look forward to starting next week.”

Lebanese authorities themselves pressed Japan to return Ghosn just a week before he fled the country, the Financial Times said.

According to Reuters, a private security firm oversaw the escape and Ghosn met Lebanese President Michel Aoun after arriving in Beirut. Aoun’s office has denied the encounter took place.

Either way, get ready for what’s likely to be a blistering public relations assault that will rattle some cages in both Japan and France. Ghosn is planning a press conference on Jan. 8 in Beirut, the Yomiuri newspaper reported. Based on past statements by Ghosn and his wife Carole, here’s a guide to what may be in store.