Michael Woodford Biography

When Woodford, a 30-year Olympus veteran, uncovered $1.7 billion in accounting fraud shortly after being named President & CEO in April 2011, he found himself in the center of deceit and intrigue. Through complicated acquisition transactions, Olympus officials were able to conceal massive financial losses. On Oct. 14, 2011, Woodford was dismissed from Olympus after promptly blowing the whistle on the fraud. He was afraid for his life as he left the building that day. Woodford promptly handed over a file to Financial Times journalist Jonathan Soble and flew to Haneda, where he got a flight to Hong Kong. He observed the story had already hit newsstands when he landed in Hong Kong and said that his life had been like a John Grisham novel since then. At the platform, Woodford immediately immerses the audience in the storyline of what seemed like a thrilling drama, sharing his experience as the first president of a big firm compelled to become a whistleblower against his own company. He teaches audiences about leadership and how, with honesty as a basis, capitalism and companies can remain ethical and successful. Woodford began his career as a Surgical Salesman for Olympus KeyMed's UK affiliate at the age of 21, rising through the ranks to Sales Manager and Sales Director before being named Managing Director in 1990 at the age of 29. Following a period of rapid development for the UK firm, Woodford was appointed Executive Managing Director of Olympus Medical Systems Europe in October 2004. He initiated a radical program of transformation inside the organization, resulting in a three-fold increase in operating profit. He was also in charge of Olympus Surgical and Industrial companies in America for the same three years, during which time both sales and profitability rose significantly. He was named Executive Managing Director and Chairman of Olympus Europa Holding in April 2008, with ultimate responsibility for the European Medical, Industrial, Life Science, and Consumer Products divisions, and became an officer of Olympus Corporation's main Board in Japan. During his time in this position, the European company's operational profit grew by approximately 50%. Woodford was named President and COO of the Olympus Corporation in April 2011. He was named CEO on October 1, 2011, but was fired two weeks later after exposing the company's wrongdoing. Following his bravery in exposing the wrongdoing at Olympus, he was named 2011 Business Person of the Year by the Sunday Times, The Independent, and The Sun, marking the first time three national newspapers have chosen to honor the same person, and TIME named him one of the People Who Mattered in 2011. Woodford was also honored by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners with the Cliff Robertson Sentinel Award for Choosing Truth Over Self in 2012. (ACFE). Woodford's incredible journey was just recounted in the true-life novel Exposure: Inside the Olympus Scandal: How I Went from CEO to Whistleblower. Woodford was an early pioneer of Corporate Social Responsibility, with his work to reduce road deaths in the UK and around the world, and was named a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by Her Majesty the Queen in the New Year's Honours list in 2002 in recognition of his community service. Olympus KeyMed, of which Woodford was the Managing Director at the time, earned the Queen's Award for Enterprise four times between 2004 and 2008, first in 2004 in the area of Sustainable Development, then in 2006 for International Trade, and finally in 2008 for Innovation. Receiving three Queens awards in such a short time is a tribute to the organization Woodford led's high standards and entrepreneurial culture. Woodford, his wife Nuncy, and their two children live in the United Kingdom, where he is an enthusiastic sailor and runner.

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