Exposure

From President to Whistleblower at Olympus

By: Michael Woodford

Narrated by: Roy McMillan

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Michael Woodford's autobiographical account, Exposure: Inside the Olympus Scandal, read by Roy McMillan.

Shortly after Michael Woodford was made President and CEO of Olympus, his dream job turned into a nightmare. After discovering a series of bizarre mergers and acquisitions deals totalling $1.7 billion, he turned to his fellow executives and within weeks he was fired in a boardroom coup that shocked the international business world. Woodford went straight to the press - becoming the first CEO of a multinational to blow the whistle on his own company. Exposure is a deeply personal memoir that reads like a thriller.

Critic reviews

Woodford's story has the hallmarks of a John Grisham novel. A brilliantly gripping book, with a great hero at its heart.

The kind of integrity and courage that Woodford displayed is unusual.

Woodford tells his tale like a thriller. A fine book by a fine man who did the right thing.

A sensational account of a man of great courage and principle who got to the top, and blew the whistle to glorious effect. In the corporate world Woodford is too rare and exceptional a breed. (Jon Snow)

Michael Woodford took a considerable risk in exposing wrongdoing. He was a study of boldness in action (Lionel Barber)

The most celebrated international whistleblower of recent times... his story is filled with mystery, suspense, duplicity and betrayal

The business book of the year has to be Michael Woodford's Exposure (Rosamund Urwin)

In a world increasingly dominated by global multinationals, he just felt someone had to speak out

He lost his job for his integrity

Michael Woodford has proven himself a hero, though he never wanted the battle. He risked everything (Clive Stafford Smith)

Intriguing insight into corporate Japan with gaps.

This is a an above average book, with fascinating insights into Japan's corporate culture. Worth having a listen - as it talks about Olympus's scandal or ie Japan's Enron as dubbed by the author.

But as reviewers externally have questioned - there were some questions that weren't clearly explored, if not answered (possibly due to legal issues), e.g. why Kikukawa et al, did a few things, and more insight into why Michael Woodford (MW) was scared about a threat to his life, but later on went back to Japan.

However, leaving those questions aside, its a unique insight into corporate Japan, particularly in the 2nd half of the book when the wheels start moving.

I guess, I'll have to be satisfied with the unsaid things that NW didn't say due to confidentiality, particularly around his aborted board challenge. In the end, it is the only known case and book about a real life whistleblower who was also the CEO/President of his company.