By Rory Jones

KASLIK, Lebanon -- It's been five years since Carlos Ghosn escaped from Japan to Lebanon, accused of siphoning off millions of dollars from the car companies he ran, Nissan and Renault.

He wakes up every morning at 5:30 a.m. His wife, Carole, wakes up later, and the two walk the beach with their golden retriever, Melqart -- named for a Phoenician god who symbolized life and death -- or exercise with a personal trainer in the $20 million pink mansion that Nissan claims is owned by the company. Other days, Ghosn takes out his 120-foot yacht, which Nissan also claims, though he never leaves Lebanese waters.

With Lebanese, French and Brazilian passports, Ghosn once described himself as a citizen of the globe. But after fleeing from Japan by hiding in an audio-equipment box on a private jet, he remains an international fugitive and is stuck in Lebanon, hemmed in by arrest warrants issued by French and Japanese prosecutors.

We met recently at a Lebanese university where Ghosn runs an executive-leadership program, and his aides handed out paper cups of espresso with the phrase, "Coffee increases happiness," while his bodyguards kept watch outside.

A university colleague had stressed the need to arrive 30 minutes early, as Ghosn is always punctual. Ever the corporate executive, he wore a blue suit, with a shirt and a sweater, his hair graying gracefully for a 71-year-old.

"The ladies are taking care of you?" Ghosn asked as we sat down, still accustomed to the personal-assistant trappings of an international CEO.

No longer running a car empire, Ghosn explained that he has more time to read, and was currently halfway through the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "Trust," about a Wall Street titan who attempts to recast what he perceives to be a false narrative about his life. He's also an investor in a winery that produces red and white blends, with vineyards dotted across the mountains of Lebanon.

Ghosn has worked, without a salary, for almost five years on the executive leadership programs for entrepreneurs at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, which is about 30 minutes north of the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

For the first program, named "Business Strategies and Performance with Carlos Ghosn," he roped in former associates from the business world to help provide lectures. These included Daimler's Dieter Zetsche and Thierry Bolloré, the former chief executive of both Renault and Jaguar Land Rover.

The program initially cost $10,000 for Lebanese attendees and $20,000 for foreigners, with the proceeds going to the university. It was eventually perceived as too elitist, Ghosn said, and has since evolved into the less expensive, three-day "Strategic and Crisis Management Bootcamp with Carlos Ghosn" for midlevel managers largely from Lebanon. About 64 people are signed up for next month's program.

Some students recognized the international fugitive as he walked around campus. "Carlos, you're the best," one called out as they crossed paths on the stairs.

"I feel good, because people consider that I'm a victim," Ghosn said.

French and Japanese prosecutors accuse Ghosn of underreporting compensation and orchestrating a complex flow of money between Nissan, Renault and a Middle East car dealer to line his own pocket.

Ghosn denies any wrongdoing, arguing a cadre of Nissan employees worked to oust him as he fought to keep alive an alliance between the carmaker and Renault. He has said he faced a drawn-out Japanese legal process and a near-perfect conviction rate, leaving him with no option but to flee Japan in December 2019.

Japanese and French prosecutors issued warrants for Ghosn's arrest. But Lebanon -- where Ghosn spent much of his childhood -- doesn't extradite its citizens, and Ghosn was left safely beyond reach in the Mediterranean state.

There was collateral damage, however. A former U.S. green beret, Michael Taylor, and his son, Peter Taylor, who helped Ghosn escape were extradited from the U.S., and both spent 20 months in Japanese prison for helping Ghosn escape.

Ghosn's wife, an American citizen, can't leave Lebanon, facing an Interpol "red notice" over allegations she gave false testimony in Japan related to his case.

Ghosn said her only chance is that the Trump administration leans on Japan to rescind the notice, which he believes is inhumanely blocking his wife's travel over a misdemeanor offense. "My wife is a prisoner for a very simple reason, because she's my wife," he said.

The White House directed queries to the State Department, which declined to comment.

Ghosn's cross-border legal troubles haven't clipped his enthusiasm for an interconnected world. Despite the recent volatility in markets, he was optimistic about the direction of the global economy. Trump's tariffs, in his view, are just an attempt to redress the lopsided trade balance between the U.S. and other countries, particularly China, but don't represent the end of globalization.

"Thinking today that this is the end of globalization, frankly, is a joke," Ghosn said, a day after the Trump White House had introduced a new tariff regime that was roiling markets.

"On the contrary, people want to know what's going on everywhere," Ghosn said. "They are influenced by different cultures." The irony of that message isn't lost on Ghosn, who acknowledges he isn't seeing much of the world himself.

Born in Brazil, Ghosn moved to Lebanon when he was a young child and was largely raised by his mother, after his father was jailed in connection with the murder of a priest. He excelled at school before moving to study in Paris. After graduating, he went to work at Michelin and then Renault, developing a reputation for turning around operations.

As an executive at Renault, he helped shape an alliance with Nissan in 1999, pioneering trans-contentinental partnership and led both companies for more than a decade. He says the carmakers' divergence since his departure has contributed to Nissan's growing financial difficulties. Nissan "is begging for some financial help," Ghosn said, "and Renault is back to what it was before 1999, it's a small European company."

Renault declined to comment and Nissan didn't respond to requests for comment.

French prosecutors are preparing to put Ghosn on trial. While Japan does not allow trials in absentia, France does -- though Ghosn has not ruled out the possibility of attending in person. Ghosn said that he'd previously asked to travel to Brazil to see his mother, who he said has Alzheimer's disease, but Lebanese authorities denied his request because of the international arrest warrants under his name.

"If you spend your next 10 years only fighting these battles and raging about it, you've lost 10 years of your life," he said.

Write to Rory Jones at Rory.Jones@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 25, 2025 22:00 ET (02:00 GMT)

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