Michael Christopher Woodford, MBE (born 12 June 1960) is an English businessman who was formerly president and COO (April 2011) and CEO (October 2011) of Japan-based optics and reprography products manufacturer Olympus Corporation.
[6][7] His stance in the scandal, in which he understood his life was at risk due to the criminal organisation connections of some of the suspect monies he had questioned,[8][9][10][11] earned him several awards for "Businessperson of the Year".
[8] Following a settlement for defamation and wrongful dismissal by Olympus, Woodford now consults on corporate governance worldwide, speaks on human rights, whistleblower laws and road safety.
In February 2011, due to substantial growth in the European businesses, Woodford was promoted to company president, while Kikukawa stayed on as chairman and CEO.
[13][14] On 30 September 2011 Woodford was appointed chief executive officer of Olympus Corporation, after 30 years of working for the group, while Kikukawa remained as chairman of the board.
After attempting to seek answers as to why the questionable transactions took place, he was dismissed from his position as President and CEO on 14 October 2011, although he retained his seat on the board of directors.
[19] As a result of Woodford's ousting, board chairman Kikukawa reassumed the titles of president and CEO but resigned these positions on 26 October 2011 and was succeeded by Shuichi Takayama.
[24] However it has been reported that Woodford was rejected by Olympus's institutional investors because they were "uncomfortable with the Englishman's combative style and also his plans to recapitalise the company through private equity or a rights issue".
[25] On 6 January 2012, on failing to secure support from Japanese institutional shareholders, Woodford announced that he would abandon his proxy fight to take control of the Olympus board.