Olympus ex-CEO plans tell-all book

NEW YORK, USA: Michael Woodford, the former CEO of Olympus Corp who blew the whistle on a $1.7 billion financial fraud, is planning to write a book about his experience uncovering the scandal at the Japanese maker of cameras and medical equipment.

The first version, in Japanese, is expected as early as June, Woodford told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.

Woodford, 51, has also found a UK publisher that plans a global launch in English later this year.

The book will be an autobiographical account, including the events at Olympus, he said. "But it will also be a book that looks at many of the issues related to moral capitalism."

Woodford ignited the scandal in October 2011, after he was sacked for asking questions internally about Olympus' dubious accounting and about some highly unusual acquisition payments, which were later revealed to have been part of the fraud.

Olympus has sought to put the scandal behind it, having completed its own internal investigation late last year.

However, law-enforcement agencies in Japan, Britain and the United States are still investigating the fraud at the multinational which, according to the third-party probe, was used to hide investment losses from investors for 13 years.

Woodford, a Briton, is already a rarity as one of the few foreigners to take the helm of a major Japanese company. A book that spills details of massive fraud has the potential to shock corporate Japan.

"There are a lot of people in Japan who want to bring about change, and I think it will be welcomed by many people - not everyone," Woodford said. "It illustrates the lack of governance which can exist and the consequences of that."

His role in bringing the Olympus scandal to light has won him a series of accolades, including selection as "businessperson of the year" in 2011 by The Sunday Times, The Independent and The Sun in the UK.

He has also been shortlisted for the FT ArcelorMittal Boldness in Business Award, which will be announced on March 20.

RIGHT AND WRONG

Woodford's status as whistleblower - after three decades at Olympus - has given him a new career of sorts as a public speaker. Invitations include addresses at Yale University's Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance and the Council of Institutional Investors.

"To me one of the main things now is using the platform created by Olympus to illustrate the need - not just in Japan but also elsewhere - of improvements in corporate governance," he said.

Since his sacking last year, Woodford has met with investors, law enforcement and media in Asia, Europe and the United States as he seeks to keep the spotlight and pressure on Olympus.

Woodford has demanded the ouster of the entire board, though he recently gave up on his own campaign to be reinstated as Olympus chief, thwarted by the firm's major Japanese shareholders. He is planning to attend a special meeting of Olympus shareholders in April.

For Woodford and his wife, Nuncy, the long fight against a company has also been traumatic and has strained his finances. At times last year, he worried about his safety amid speculation that organized crime might be involved in the fraud.

In November, he told Reuters that when he thought about how the scandal affected his friends and colleagues at Olympus, he felt an emotion akin to bereavement.

On a trip to New York this week to meet possible publishers, Woodford appeared relaxed as he discussed his immediate plans. Over dinner at a Manhattan restaurant, he said he has had a strong sense of right and wrong since he was a boy growing up in Liverpool.

He would not discuss his compensation for the book rights, but said it will help ease the financial strain.

"It will help pay the legal bills," Woodford said.