The Renault-Nissan Alliance Against Carlos Ghosn

The downfall of Carlos Ghosn, once idolized as the globe-trotting genius who turned France’s Renault SA and Japan’s Nissan Motor Co. into the world’s biggest automaking alliance, is turning into a tale of back-stabbing politics, corporate self-interest and excessive greed worthy of grand opera. It’s hard to see how anyone comes out of this looking like a hero — and that goes for Renault and Nissan, too.

The story so far goes something like this: Act I saw the shocking arrest of Ghosn at the hands of the Japanese on allegations of financial misconduct, including using company funds for personal investments and misusing corporate assets, which bore the hallmarks of a palace coup against France’s dominance. Act II saw Renault and Nissan agree to patch up their differences and move on from the Ghosn era, with the blessing of their political paymasters in Paris and Tokyo. Act III, still underway, is a drip-feed of lurid allegations of excess under Ghosn’s tenure — corporate jets, funding family startups, a party in Versailles — while the ex-chief executive officer awaits his trial and protests his innocence.