Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn, one of the world's best-known businessmen, was reportedly under arrest in Japan on Monday in a shocking fall from grace linked to allegations of financial misconduct. The news sent shockwaves through the auto industry, where Ghosn is a towering figure who is credited with turning around several major manufacturers and leads an alliance of Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi.

Japan's public broadcaster NHK and other media outlets said Ghosn had been arrested after being questioned by Japanese prosecutors for various improprieties including underreporting his income. Nissan said it had been investigating its chairman for months and would now move to fire him. In a statement, Nissan said it had been conducting a probe into Ghosn for several months after receiving a whistleblower report and had uncovered misconduct going back several years. The Tokyo prosecutor's office had no comment on the reports about Ghosn. Nissan said it had launched an investigation into both Ghosn and Representative Director Greg Kelly several months ago.