In a sudden turn-of-events‚ Stefan Kaufmann has left his position as Olympus CEO after the board discovered evidence of illegal drug purchases. The Tokyo-based companys shares dropped more than 5% following this un-expected announcement
The board took quick action after getting info about the case: they started an in-house check-up consulted outside lawyers and worked with police (which led to their final choice). “The board has made a un-animous decision that Kaufmann likely did things that dont match our conduct rules‚“ the company noted in its statement
Kaufmann who is 56 joined the company about 20 years ago and became its leader last spring; he was only the second non-Japanese person to run the firm. This reminds many of the previous foreign CEO Michael Woodford who got fired back in 2011 due to his questions about money-handling
The company which switched from making cameras to medical tools about 4 years ago (after being in the photo business since pre-WW2 times) now has Yasuo Takeuchi as temporary boss. The chairman will lead while they look for someone new to take charge; meanwhile details about the actual drug-related claims stay un-clear