Today another Olympus board member quit. It’s Makoto Nakatsuka that was named one of the key players of the accounting cover-up. And Amateur Photographer reports that it will take at least two months to organize an extraordinary shareholder meeting. This means the current board will be operational at least until February-March.
But let’s take a look at some other news. Who is playing a big role behind the Olympus fee scandal? Reuters reports: Goldmann Sachs bought a near 7% Olympus stake in November. Woodford said that he spoke with whom bought the stock for Goldman and he doesn’t believe they were trying to turn a quick profit on the company’s misfortunes: “I don’t forsee Olympus being sold or anything like that happening. Those interested in taking a stake see a company that will have a renaissance — and support a new strong management with me and others.”
But the real big news is coming via Market experts: They say that more than 50 percent of Olympus’s stock is now likely to be held outside Japan!!! And Mr. Woodford said: “I think overwhelmingly those outside Japan support me.”
So while the japanese board is getting decimated western investors are playing more and more a big role behind the scene. The Olympus crisis could end with a reinstatement of MR.Woodfrod as CEO and with the majority of shareholders being western banks and investment fonds.
47 Responses
This means the end of Olympus. A western majority share stake only means one thing. Olympus is going to get chopped up. Nice knowing you.
totally agree 🙁
this article echoes a lot of my sentiments http://www.forbes.com/sites/stephenharner/2011/11/10/olympus-and-honor/
Urgh,
Goldman Sachs holding 7% is certainly NOT good news. That Bank is forerunner of chasing quaterly earnings. Given their japanese management didn’t do them any good the last years, its still quite sad seeing a traditionell japanese company now owned by western banks and hedgefonds. Don’t see any good coming from that.
Sachs owning 7% share. Is this good news?
Does this mean that Olympus would be eligible for a bailout like Sachs and others?
I will have to seriously think about owning/using any m4/3rds stuff at all…unless Panasonic goes for something very different.
Woodford was probably paid by organized crime to cause this mess in the first place…I bet the banks are the ones who sent him funds to the Cayman Islands to cause this crap. Just looking at that guy can’t help make me think he’s a sneaky, backstabbing little Brit rat.
LOL! You trolls are getting dumber by the day! Back under the bridge…..
Trolls for who? I’m an M43 Olympus fan…not a fan of that media attention grabbing sneaky rat Woodford.
You are free to question his motives but it was not he who misrepresented accounting information and misled those who have invested their money in Olympus. It is the latter that is the heart of Olympus’ troubles.
If “that media attention grabbing sneaky rat Woodford.” had not gone to the media and told us about the malfeasance then the clown idiot crooks on the Olympus board would have been happy perpetuating the fiction that he was a horrible CEO who did not like the Japanese and their culture and had betrayed the Olympus workers and brand. Instead of cleaning up their act and resigning as they are doing.
So yeah troll is for you.
Trolls don’t have to be “for” anyone. Try looking up “internet troll”, and see if you recognise anything about yourself.
And by the way, aren’t you trying to draw attention to yourself in a sneaky way on online media?
Sneaky Rat? Do you mean the Olympus board who tried to hide $1.7 billion in losses? Or the man who discovered the cover-up and lost his job trying to expose it?
@ DonTom
Seriously, why is that a troll message?
What if that turns out to be the case. Check out Sachs’ reputation and if they support Wooddford.. no more cash in home mortagages so go after something different..
Not a laughing matter at all.
@Vivek
Trolling is posting an inflammatory message to provoke an emotional response, thereby derailing a conversation. None of Macy’s message had any basis in fact or even distant probability….except the rascist bit (that Woodford is British is correct).
I really dislike the tone of the messages that are starting to proliferate here. It used to be a place where a sensible discussion could take place, now it’s starting to resemble dpreview forums. Have they started moderating over there or something?
+ 1,000,000
The admin needs to start some troll zotting, ASAP.
+1
“Woodford was probably paid by organized crime to cause this mess in the first place…I bet the banks are the ones who sent him funds to the Cayman Islands to cause this crap. Just looking at that guy can’t help make me think he’s a sneaky, backstabbing little Brit rat.”
Macy, I hope you’re not serious as I simply can not believe that anyone in the whole world actually believes that the trouble at Olympus was caused by Woodford as part of a sneaky Brit plot.
That’s a bit much even for the madness (and borderline racism) that many internet forum posts descend into.
I agree that there should not be abusive terms used because it distracts from the real issue.
“Alleged Japanese organized crime replaced by legal, licensed global operatives”
The media has been hyping the BS that honest “awe schucks” Woodford and the West are going to save the sneaky Japanese and their sinking ship Olympus. Last I checked this wasn’t that BS movie Last Samurai. The only people who are going to save Olympus are the Japanese.
In that case if you feel so slighted, why are you coming here and posting inflammatory comments instead of airing your ‘honorable’ views to the media who are sprouting the ‘BS’?
Really Jeff, i just got back from the pub where someone was convinced the moon landings didn’t take place. I gave up long along thinking that some people had more than two brain cells to rub together 😉
Please don’t vote.
yeh our legendary sneeky british tacticks…. hehe who else would make a tank look like a rubber dingy… ok it sank but it was sneeky!
“And Mr. Woodford said: “I think overwhelmingly those outside Japan support me.””
Errr…no, when Goldman Sachs is in the house, it does NOT support you, Woodford, it is abusing your firm for its own profits.
Why do you think a Goldman sachs employee is running the country of Italy?
The vast majority of companies are run for profit. That is how it works. Our pensions depend on it.
Unfortunately, the pensions do not depend on the profit of a company alone, anymore. It depends on how the 3rd or 4th derivatives on your pension funds did. No matter what happens there in that chain, the guys in charge in that line do fill up their pockets with real (what should be criminal and illegal) cash.
Italy, Greece, ECB, banksters (try to) rule the World!
Dirty story for Olympus. Hope they can survive to that and stay innovative and competitive.
Olympus, be careful, the vampire squid is in da place…
No matter whether the holding company is a Japanese one or not.
The only important thing is for Olympus to survive – as still one of the most interesting and innovative photo manufacturer and an indispensable partner in the m43 enterprise.
Amen…
Right. And there’s no need to argue over who is guilty and who is holding the shares when the situation is changing by the day and we don’t know the whole truth. Use your gear to take some photos, enjoy the holidays and check in a couple of months time what happened to Olympus.
thats 7% less held by sneaky japanese execs! Rather have goldman sachs & woodford then the guys that created this mess. good riddance!
Sorry for my bad english.
DonTom speaks like a troll, with no arguments.
Security question: 11 + 15. Each time harder!
Agree with most comments. GS is bad news. They are like vampires and vultures, giving money to the rich at any cost.
I agree with DonTom. You trolls have taken over this site with your foolish nonsense.
@tmrgrs
Sadly, most un-moderated sites go this way eventually! It is getting a bit pointless dropping in here. As mentioned above, just like the forums on dpreview.
The admin does a wonderful job with his rumours, and I know doesn’t have the time to spare for moderation. But something has to give in the end.
@Federico,
Sorry I hadn’t inserted any arguments in my assertion of trolling, now added! Hope that makes you happier, and that you perhaps look up what an internet troll is.
Seriously, 11+15? Try a calculator if that is too hard.
Can’t believe some of the logic by you guys, so Olympus is much better off by keep lying forever?!
Oky, but Goldman Sachs go in to Olympus do fast money, not for give new camera idea.
@Inqe-M
I freely admit that I am no expert on investment banking. But in the article referenced above, Woodford says: “I’ve spoken to people whom Goldman has bought the stock for,”. This means, I think, that GS are acting as a broker in this case, and are not the owners of the stock directly.
Correct though, I doubt that GS are interested in becoming optical engineers!
Yes, the is point!
Please excuse this interruption of your brain-dead dissing of Goldman Sachs for an important announcement:
THIS JUST IN!!!!
Dec 7 (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs cut its holdings in disgraced camera maker Olympus to a 3.78 percent stake from 6.67 percent, a Japanese government filing showed on Wednesday.
Goldman reduced its stake before Nov. 30, according to the filing.
OK, Please feel free to continue blaming Goldman Sachs for all the evil in the world.
Happy Pearl Harbor Day everyone!
Thank you.
– Olympus
Bombs Away, Olympius! 😉
Let’s see, if GS bought at the low and sold at near the current, that would mean that someone obtained 3.78% of the company for free.
Investment bankers do what investment bankers do. Personally, I think the nomenclature of “banker” is misleading here. They were called investment brokers up until they got into trouble along with the banks for all their overextended leverage and had to ask the governments for help, at which point they had to agree to operate like and be regulated like a “bank”. That, unfortunately, is one of the bad side effects of what happened in 2007/2008 as the Fed and others tried to save the monetary system from complete collapse.
it’s probably Reuters buying the shares!
The whole slimy Olympus situation is all we said, he said, they said, I said at this point. The facts are pretty thin and all parties seem to be maneuvering for advantageous positions. Woodford seems to be running a pretty good self-promotion campaign. Eventually it’ll all sort out. Hopefully Olympus will save itself or be bailed out. How many of us know much of anything about it? Honestly.
As far as the troll issue goes, well, yeah, there are trolls, BFD. They’re everywhere online. Here trollery seems to come in waves, but it really isn’t too bad, comparatively speaking. Check out some of the absolute morons on DPReview, for instance.
The best way to deal with them, aside from the incredibly crappy “solutions” of censorship and/or banning people or to avoid a site completely is to simply show a bit of discipline and re-read annoying comments, to be sure they really are idiocy, BEFORE falling for the trap and spewing some hotheaded response and making it worse. Trolls thrive on that sort of crap.
I’m sure this issue will get burred away by middle of next year and we’ll all have forgotten why a lens hood for any Olympus lens is $50.
But for now I know why…
Good riddance of GS. Let’s occupier to set tents in Olympus office and shit hell out of greedy management. Or may Obama bails out Olympus too – isn’t it too big to fail? After he is done with Greece and rest of Europe.
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