MassDevice

The Medical Device Business Journal — Medical Device News & Articles | MassDevice

Home » Former Olympus CEO Woodford resigns, calls for board’s ouster

Former Olympus CEO Woodford resigns, calls for board’s ouster

By

Olympus

Michael Woodford, the former CEO of endoscopy giant Olympus Corp. (TYO:7733) fired for blowing the whistle on a massive accounting scandal, resigned his seat on the board and called for the wholesale ouster of his former colleagues

Woodford has been a busy man lately, speaking with authorities in Japan, the U.S. and the U.K. about the scandal. Olympus has admitted to using mergers and acquisitions to conceal billions of dollars of investment losses. In one case the company shelled out $687 million in fees to dummy consulting firms.

Woodford was sacked two weeks after taking his desk in the corner office after he confronted the board about the scheme. Now he’s looking to assemble a coalition of stakeholders to wrest control of the company from its current managers, whom he accuses of being complicit in the scandal.

Sign up to get our free newsletters delivered right to your inbox

The board "wrecked the company by siphoning off huge amounts of money on all this nonsense," Woodford said during a recent press conference. "The directors know that they will have to leave to bring credibility back to the board."

Saying his resignation "allows me to talk to all parties at Olympus," Woodford told Bloomberg that he’s committed to resurrecting the company. Olympus shares are down nearly 60 percent since Oct. 14, when the scandal first broke.

"I will come together with a new slate of directors," Woodford told the news service. "I remain completely committed to Olympus and, if the shareholders decide, very much want to return."

Olympus has a virtual corner on the world endoscopy market, with its $2.6 billion-a-year business accounting for a share of about 70 percent and high profit margins of about 17 percent. Preserving that operation is a priority, But the company faces a de-listing threat from Japanese securities regulators and is reviewing its corporate structure, perhaps with an eye toward jettisoning its under-performing camera unit.

That’s not the only probe under way both within and without the company. Olympus is conducting an investigation into its M&A deals and its accounting of them. Agents from Japan’s Securities & Exchange Surveillance Commission are on site a the company’s Tokyo headquarters conducting their own probe, and authorities in the U.K. and the U.S. FBI are also on the case.

In case you missed it

RSS From Medical Design & Outsourcing

  • Respira Labs seeks FDA clearance for its wearable lung monitor
    Respira Labs recently announced that it has developed a wearable device that continuously assesses lung function without the need for traditional pulmonary function tests. Mountain View, California-based Respira Labs designed its Sylvee wearable initially to assess chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COVID-19 and asthma patients. It is embedded with speakers and microphones that measure the change… […]
  • Owen Mumford starts work on new production center in U.K.
    Owen Mumford this week announced that it has started building its new production facility in Witney, Oxfordshire in the U.K. Owen Mumford’s new Witney facility will stand as a production site for the company’s recently launched, next-generation auto-injector Aidaptus. The company has decades of experience creating its own drug delivery, blood sampling and rapid diagnostic… […]
  • FDA’s Woodcock reassures about COVID-19 tests, vaccines under Omicron
    Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock thinks many COVID-19 tests will continue to work with the new Omicron variant — with information coming soon on vaccine efficacy. In a statement posted yesterday, Woodcock said she thought the agency is well-positioned to work with companies to address the potential impact of viral mutations on COVID-19 tests,… […]
  • Traco Power launches THM 60WI DC-DC converters
    Traco Power today announced it has launched its THM 60WI series of quarter brick DC-DC converters. The Baar, Switzerlad-based company designed the DC-DC converters with ultra-wide input ranges and safety approvals for medical and industrial applications. Traco Power’s THM 60WI series of converters consists of 12 models with 9-75 or 18-75 Vin ranges with single… […]
  • The 10 largest medtech employers of 2021 – and what their employees really think
    Employees of the 10 largest medtech employers are proud of working on life-saving products — with a greater appreciation for diversity and inclusion initiatives. That was one major takeaway as Medical Design & Outsourcing compiled some current and former employee reviews posted on Glassdoor. (Browse the online version of our Big 100 report.) Despite the pride, there was… […]
  • COVID-19 test makers say their products also detect Omicron
    Abbott, BD, Hologic, PerkinElmer, Thermo Fisher and Quidel are reassuring the public that their COVID-19 tests detect the Omicron variant. Discovered last week in South Africa, the new variant has enough mutations that it has raised concerns worldwide — even though it is still unknown for sure whether the mutations cause greater transmissibility or vaccine… […]
  • November 2021 Issue: The Big 100 – Medtech’s 100 Largest Players
      Browse the online version of the Big 100 An even larger medtech supply chain shock looms beyond the pandemic European approval ‘a big deal’ as Medtronic moves forward with Hugo surgical robot How medtech fared in the first waves of the pandemic People move the medtech industry forward The term “supply chain” brings to… […]
  • Could winged microchips monitor for airborne disease?
    Northwestern University engineers have created what they claim are the smallest-ever human-made flying structures — winged microchips that could monitor the air for disease and pollution. Engineering professor John Rogers and his team at Northwestern drew on inspiration from nature to create the microchips, which are the size of a grain of sand. The chips… […]
  • Smith+Nephew expands reach of its Cori handheld robotic system
    A year after Smith+Nephew (NYSE:SNN) launched its Cori handheld robotic system in the U.S.,  the ortho surgery system has launched globally. The British medtech giant has expanded Cori’s reach to Europe, Australia and New Zealand, India, and Canada (just announced today). The company yesterday said the system was now available for use in the U.K.’s National Health… […]
  • Elizabeth Holmes reportedly expresses remorse in criminal fraud trial
    Elizabeth Holmes reportedly revealed some regret over her handling of business as the ex-Theranos CEO took the stand again in a criminal fraud trial. Taking the stand yesterday for the third day of testimony in federal court in San Jose, California, Holmes was said to have shown remorse while still shifting some of the blame… […]
  • Supply chain, manufacturing issues slow Medtronic’s Hugo launch, ramp-up expected next fiscal year
    Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) Chair & CEO Geoff Martha confirmed that the launch of the Hugo surgical robot platform is off-schedule. Hugo received CE mark approval last month. The company is gearing up to conduct its FDA investigational device exemption (IDE) clinical trials in the U.S., with more on its stateside efforts still to come, Medtronic’s surgical robotics… […]

Leave a Reply