End of an era for electronics giant Toshiba

There was a time when more than one of your TVs, computers, speaker systems or other essential electronic goods would have been made by Toshiba.

Once a poster boy for Japan’s dominance in electronics – known as Japan Inc – the company has delisted, ending a 74-year history with Tokyo’s stock exchange.

So why did one of Japan’s most famous industrial names have such a spectacular fall from grace?

It all started in 2015 when accounting malpractices across multiple divisions came to light, with many of them involving top management.

For seven years, Toshiba had overstated its profit by $1.59bn (£1.25bn).

In 2020, Toshiba found further accounting irregularities.

There were also allegations related to corporate governance and the way in which shareholder decisions were made.

An investigation in 2021 found that Toshiba had colluded with Japan’s trade ministry – which saw Toshiba as a strategic asset – to suppress the interests of foreign investors.

At the time, experts said this made foreign investors uncertain about investing in Japanese stocks, making it not just a Toshiba problem, but an issue for Japan’s entire stock market.

In late 2016, Toshiba said it would take charge of several billion dollars related to the construction of a nuclear power plant that US unit Westinghouse Electric had bought a year earlier.

Three months later, Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy leaving Toshiba facing a collapse of its nuclear business and more than $6bn in liabilities.

It sold off a slew of businesses including mobile phones, medical systems and white goods.