French economy minister Emmanuel Macron tackled Carlos Ghosn, the chief executive of car makers Renault and Nissan, who is advocating an overhaul of the cross-shareholdings that underpin the Franco-Japanese alliance to give more power to Nissan, reports MarketWatch.
"He is CEO, not shareholder," Mr. Macron said about Mr. Ghosn, Les Echos newspaper reported. "Inasmuch as I represent the shareholder, I am not supposed to interfere in the management of the company. When someone wants to take the job of someone else, it never has good results."
The priority isn't to change the alliance's corporate governance, but to focus on the industrial success of the two companies, Mr. Macron said, according to Les Echos.
The brinkmanship between Mr. Macron and Mr. Ghosn started earlier this week when it surfaced that the Nissan board, which is chaired by Mr. Ghosn, is considering increasing the Japanese car maker's stake in Renault to balance voting power within the alliance and limit the French government's influence.
A discussion document circulated among board members suggesting that Renault lowered its 43.4% stake in the Japanese car maker, while Nissan raised its 15% stake in the French one.