When Michael Woodford was made President and CEO of Olympus, he became the first westerner ever to climb the ranks of one of Japan's corporate giants.
Within months he become the first company president to blow the whistle on his own firm, having uncovered and publicly exposed a $1.5 billion accounting fraud. He was dramatically fired, fled Japan in fear of his life, and instigated an investigation which continues to rock Japan to its core. Exposure is the story of how Michael Woodford chose the truth over an $8 million salary, and exposed the dark heart of the company he had dedicated his life to.
'I approached an empty park bench by an ice cream stand. The sound of children playing was all around. Nobody appeared to be looking at me, or monitoring me. I took out my one remaining mobile phone, and called the Financial Times correspondent based here in Tokyo. Mercifully, he picked up.
'Can we meet?' I asked him.
The short wait seemed an eternity, but when he arrived I handed him a file.
'I need you to expose all of this,' I told him. 'And quickly.'
'What are you going to do now?' he asked.
As I answered, I could hear the panic in my voice. 'I'm getting out.'
'When?'
'Now.'
