Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Mike Adenuga.

Mike Adenuga

<s>Mike Adenuga Michael Adeniyi Agbolade Ishola Adenuga Jr  (born 29 April 1953) is a Nigerian billionaire businessman, and the sixth richest person in Africa. His company Globacom is Nigeria's second-largest telecom operator and also has a presence in Ghana and Benin. He owns stakes in the Equitorial Trust Bank and the oil exploration firm Conoil (formerly Consolidated Oil Company). "Forbes" estimated his net worth at $6.2 billion as of May 2021.</s><s>Early life and education. His father, the Oloye Michael Agbolade Adenuga Sr, was a school teacher while his mother, Omoba Juliana Oyindamola Adenuga (née Onashile, of Okesopin, Ijebu Igbo), was a businesswoman of royal Ijebu descent. Adenuga received his secondary school education at Ibadan Grammar School, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria and Comprehensive High School, Aiyetoro, for his Higher School Certificate (HSC). He worked as a taxi driver to help fund his university education. He graduated from Northwestern Oklahoma State University and Pace University, New York, with degrees in Business Administration.</s><s>Care

Mike Adenuga

er. Adenuga made his first million in 1979, at age 26, selling lace and distributing soft drinks. In 1990, he received a drilling license and in 1991, his Consolidated Oil struck oil in the shallow waters of Southwestern Ondo State, the first indigenous oil company to do so in commercial quantity. He was issued a conditional GSM licence in 1999; after it was revoked, he received a second one when the government held another auction in 2003. He was named "African Entrepreneur of The Year" at the first African Telecoms Awards (ATA) in August 2007. In May 2015, Adenuga made a takeover bid to purchase Ivorian mobile telecom's operator Comium Côte d'Ivoire for $600 million.</s><s>Honours. In 2012, he was made Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger by the government of Nigeria. He holds a Yoruba tribal chieftaincy as the Otunba Apesin of the Ijebu clan. In 2018, he was decorated with the insignia of a Commander of the Legion of Honour by President Emmanuel Macron of France. Adenuga was cited as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine in 2019.</s><s>See also. - List of

Mike Adenuga

Yoruba people</s>


Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Carlos Ghosn.

Carlos Ghosn

<s>Carlos Ghosn Carlos Ghosn Bichara (; ; ;, born 9 March 1954) is a Lebanese, Brazilian and French businessman and former automotive executive. Ghosn was the CEO of Michelin North America, chairman and CEO of Renault, chairman of AvtoVAZ, chairman and CEO of Nissan, and chairman of Mitsubishi Motors. Ghosn was also the chairman and CEO of the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance, a strategic partnership among those automotive manufacturers through a complex cross-shareholding agreement. The venture has held approximately 10% of the total market share since 2010, and as of 2017, was understood to be the largest automobile group worldwide. In 1996, Renault's CEO Louis Schweitzer hired Ghosn as his deputy and charged him with the task of turning the company around from near-bankruptcy. Ghosn developed a plan to cut costs for the period 1998–2000, reducing the workforce, revising production processes, standardising vehicle parts and pushing the launch of new models. The company also undertook major organisational changes, introducing a lean production system with delegate responsibilities inspired by Japanese systems (the "Renault Production Way"), reforming work methods and centralising research and development at its Technocent

Carlos Ghosn

re to reduce vehicle conception costs while accelerating such conception. Ghosn became known as "Le Cost Killer". In the early 2000s he earned the nickname "Mr. Fix It", for orchestrating one of the auto industry's most aggressive downsizing campaigns and spearheading the turnaround of Nissan from its near-bankruptcy in 1999. Following the Nissan financial turnaround, in 2002 "Fortune" awarded him Asia Businessman of the Year. In 2003 "Fortune" identified him as one of the 10 most powerful people in business outside the U.S., and its Asian edition voted him Man of the Year. Surveys jointly published by the "Financial Times" and PricewaterhouseCoopers named him the fourth most respected business leader in 2003, and the third most respected business leader in 2004 and in 2005. He quickly achieved celebrity status in Japan and in the business world, and his life has been chronicled in Japanese comics. Ghosn stepped down as CEO of Nissan on 1 April 2017, while remaining Chairman of the company. He was arrested at Tokyo International Airport on 19 November 2018, on allegations of under-reporting his salary and gross misuse of company assets. On 22 November 2018, Nissan's board made a unanimous decision to dismiss Ghosn as Nissan's

Carlos Ghosn

Chairman, effective immediately. Mitsubishi Motors' executive board took similar action on 26 November 2018. Renault and the French government continued to support him at first, presuming him innocent until proven guilty. However, they ultimately found the situation untenable and Ghosn was made to retire as chairman and CEO of Renault on 24 January 2019. While out on bail granted in early March, Ghosn was re-arrested in Tokyo on 4 April 2019, over new charges of misappropriations of Nissan funds. On 8 April 2019, Nissan shareholders voted to oust Ghosn from the company's board. He was released again on bail on 25 April. In June, Renault uncovered 11 million euros in questionable expenses by him, leading to a French investigation and raids. With help from an American private-security contractor, hidden in a musical instrument box, Ghosn fled from Japan to Lebanon via Turkey on 30 December 2019, by private jet, breaking his bail conditions. On 2 January 2020, Interpol issued a red notice to Lebanon seeking Ghosn's arrest. Since his escape, he has frequently been interviewed by various media, published books, is the subject of a TV series in Europe, and a documentary by BBC's "Storyville".</s><s>Early life

Carlos Ghosn

and education. Ghosn's grandfather was Bichara Ghosn, a Maronite Catholic who emigrated from Ajaltoun, French Mandate Lebanon to Brazil at the age of 13, eventually settling in remote Guaporé, Rondônia, near the border between Brazil and Bolivia. Bichara Ghosn was an entrepreneur and eventually headed several companies, in businesses including the rubber trade, the sale and purchase of agricultural products, and aviation. His son Jorge Ghosn married Rose Jazzar, a Nigerian-born Lebanese woman whose family came from Miziara in Lebanon then went to Brazil, where they settled in Porto Velho, the state capital of Rondônia, and had four children. Carlos' father, Jorge Ghosn (died 2006) was a diamond trader and worked in the airline industry. Jorge was convicted of murdering a priest in Sawfar, Lebanon in 1960. Jorge fled to Brazil in 1975 at the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War. Carlos Ghosn was born on 9 March 1954, in Porto Velho. When he was about two years old he became sick after drinking unsanitary water, and his mother moved with him to Rio de Janeiro. He did not fully recover there, and in

Carlos Ghosn

1960, when Ghosn was six years old, he and his mother and sister moved to Beirut, Lebanon, where his grandmother and two other sisters lived. Ghosn completed his secondary school studies in Lebanon, at the Jesuit school Collège Notre-Dame de Jamhour. He then completed his classes préparatoires in Paris, at the Collège Stanislas and the Lycée Saint-Louis. He graduated as an engineer from the École Polytechnique in 1974 and the École des Mines de Paris in 1978.</s><s>Career.</s><s>Career.:Michelin. After graduation in 1978, Ghosn spent 18 years at Michelin, Europe's largest tire maker, initially training and working in several plants in France and Germany. In 1981, he became plant manager in Le Puy-en-Velay, France. In 1984 he was named head of research and development for the company's industrial tyre division. In 1985, when Ghosn was 30 years old, he was appointed chief operating officer (COO) of Michelin's South American operations. He returned to Rio de Janeiro, reporting directly to François Michelin, who tasked Ghosn with turning around the operation, which was

Carlos Ghosn

unprofitable and struggling under Brazil's hyperinflation. Ghosn formed cross-functional management teams to determine best practices among the French, Brazilian, and other nationalities working in the South American division. The multicultural experience in Brazil formed the basis of his cross-cultural management style and emphasis on diversity as a core business asset. "You learn from diversity... but you're comforted by commonality", Ghosn has said. The division returned to profitability in two years. After turning around Michelin's South American operations, Ghosn was appointed president and COO of Michelin North America in 1989, and moved to Greenville, South Carolina, with his family. He was promoted to CEO of Michelin North America in 1990. He presided over the restructuring of the company after its acquisition of the Uniroyal Goodrich Tyre Company.</s><s>Career.:Post-privatisation Renault. In 1996, Ghosn became executive vice president in charge of purchasing, advanced research, engineering and development, powertrain operations, and manufacturing at Renault; and he was also in charge of Renault's South American division, located in the Mercosur. Ghosn's radical restructuring of Renault successfully contributed to profitability of the company over 1997. His reputation of

Carlos Ghosn

successful performance under François Michelin was repeated under the first CEO of the freshly privatized Renault.</s><s>Career.:Nissan and the Renault–Nissan Alliance. In March 1999, Renault and Nissan formed the Renault–Nissan Alliance, and in May 1999 Renault purchased a 36.8% stake in Nissan. While maintaining his roles at Renault, Ghosn joined Nissan as its chief operating officer (COO) in June 1999, became its president in June 2000, and was named chief executive officer (CEO) in June 2001. When he joined the company, Nissan had a consolidated interest-bearing net automotive debt of more than $20 billion (more than 2 trillion yen), and only three of its 46 models sold in Japan were generating a profit. Reversing the company's sinking fortunes was considered nearly impossible. Ghosn's "Nissan Revival Plan", announced in October 1999, called for a return to profitability in fiscal year 2000, a profit margin in excess of 4.5% of sales by the end of fiscal year 2002, and a 50% reduction in the current level of debt by the end of fiscal year 2002. Ghosn promised to resign if these goals were not met. Ghosn's Nissan Revival Plan called for cutting 21,

Carlos Ghosn

000 Nissan jobs (14% of total workforce), mostly in Japan; shutting five Japanese plants; reducing the number of suppliers and shareholdings; and auctioning off prized assets such as Nissan's aerospace unit. Ghosn was the fourth non-Japanese person to lead a Japanese automaker, after Mark Fields, Henry Wallace and James Miller were appointed by Ford to run Mazda in the late 1990s. In addition to cutting jobs, plants, and suppliers, Ghosn spearheaded major and dramatic structural and corporate-culture changes at Nissan. He defied Japanese business etiquette in various ways, including by eliminating seniority-based and age-based promotion, by changing lifetime employment from a guarantee to a desired goal for when the company achieved high performance, and by dismantling Nissan's "keiretsu" system; an interwoven web of parts suppliers with cross-holdings in Nissan. When the Nissan Revival Plan was announced, the proposed dismantling of "keiretsu" earned Ghosn the nickname ""keiretsu" killer", and "The Wall Street Journal" quoted a Dresdner Kleinwort Benson analyst in Tokyo as saying Ghosn might become a "target of public outrage" if Nissan threw former affiliates out of its supply chain. Ghos

Carlos Ghosn

n changed Nissan's official company language from Japanese to English, and included executives from Europe and North America in key global strategy sessions for the first time. In the first year of the Nissan Revival Plan, Nissan's consolidated net profit after tax climbed to $2.7 billion for fiscal year 2000, from a consolidated net loss of $6.46 billion in the previous year. Twelve months into his three-year turnaround plan, Nissan had returned to profitability, and within three years it was one of the industry's most profitable auto makers, with operating margins consistently above 9%; more than twice the industry average. The goals of the Nissan Revival Plan were all reached before 31 March 2002. In May 2002, Ghosn announced his next set of goals for the company, "Nissan 180", a three-year plan for growth based on the numbers 1, 8, and 0: By the end of September 2005, Nissan planned to increase its global sales by one million vehicles; and by the spring of 2005, it was committed to achieving an operating margin of at least 8% and reducing its net automotive debt to zero. These goals were all reached: In the spring of 2003, Nissan announced that its net automotive debt was eliminated in fiscal year 2002. Nissan's operating profit margin climbed

Carlos Ghosn

to 11.1% in fiscal year 2003; it had been 1.4% in fiscal year 1999. In October 2005, Nissan announced that its annual sales from 30 September 2004, to 30 September 2005, were more than 3.67 million, up from the 2.6 million vehicles sold in the fiscal year ended March 2002. In May 2005, Ghosn was named president and chief executive officer of Renault. When he assumed the CEO roles at both Renault and Nissan, Ghosn became the world's first person to run two companies on the Fortune Global 500 simultaneously. In 2005, billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian acquired a 9.9% stake in General Motors (GM) and seated one of his representatives on the company's board, then urged GM to investigate a merger with Renault and Nissan with Ghosn as the new chairman of GM. In 2006, GM's embattled management rebuffed the takeover attempt, and by the end of the year, Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. sold most of its GM stock. In 2006, Ford Motor Co. made Ghosn a formal offer to lead the company. Ghosn refused, reportedly saying the only way he would come to the struggling company was if he was named both the CEO and chairman of

Carlos Ghosn

the board. Bill Ford Jr. refused to give up his chairmanship. In 2007, Ghosn led the Renault–Nissan Alliance into the mass-market zero-emission electric car market in a major way, and committed €4 billion (more than $5 billion) to the effort. In 2008, he confirmed that Nissan–Renault would bring an "entire lineup" of zero-emission electric cars to the worldwide market by 2012. In 2009, he told the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, "If you're going to let developing countries have as many cars as they want—and they're going to have as many cars as they want one way or another—there is absolutely no alternative but to go for zero emissions. And the only zero-emissions vehicle available today is electric ... So we decided to go for it." The Nissan Leaf, an electric car billed as "the world's first affordable zero-emission car", debuted in December 2010. As of 2017, the Renault–Nissan Alliance is the world's electric vehicle leader, selling more than twice as many electric cars as Tesla, and the Nissan Leaf is the world's best-selling electric vehicle by a wide margin. Ghosn was a visible

Carlos Ghosn

leader in recovery efforts after the Japanese earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011, one of the worst natural disasters in modern history. On 29 March 2011, he made the first of several visits to the hard-hit Iwaki engine plant in Fukushima prefecture, 50 km (31 miles) from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, and at his direction Nissan restored full operations at the Iwaki factory well ahead of expectations. He appeared on television in Japan to encourage optimism. In May 2011, Ghosn remained committed to building at least 1 million of Nissan's cars and trucks in Japan annually. In 2011 Ghosn was under scrutiny by the French government for mishandling a spying scandal related to Renault. In June 2012, Ghosn was named deputy chairman of the board of directors of Russian automobile manufacturer AvtoVAZ. In June 2013, he was appointed chairman of the Russian company, a position he retained through June 2016. Renault had begun a strategic partnership with AvtoVAZ in 2008 by acquiring a 25% stake in the company; this led to increasingly deeper partnerships between Renault–Nissan and AvtoVAZ, ending in Renault–Nissan Alliance control of the Russian automaker in 2014. In February 2017, Ghosn announced he would step down

Carlos Ghosn

as CEO of Nissan on 1 April 2017, while remaining chairman of the company. Hiroto Saikawa, succeeded Ghosn at Nissan. In November 2018, Renault owned 43.4% of Nissan, while Nissan owned non-voting shares equal to 15% of Renault's equity.</s><s>Career.:Mitsubishi. In October 2016, Nissan completed the acquisition of a controlling 34% stake in Mitsubishi Motors. Ghosn became, in addition to his Renault–Nissan posts, chairman of Mitsubishi, with an aim to rehabilitate the automaker after a months-long scandal involving fuel-economy misrepresentation and consequent falling revenues. The Nissan–Mitsubishi partnership includes partnership in developing electric automobiles for Mitsubishi, and the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance creates the world's fourth-largest auto group, after Toyota, Volkswagen AG, and General Motors Co. Mitsubishi Motors board removed Ghosn from his role as chairman on 26 November 2018, following his arrest and ousting from Nissan for alleged financial misconduct.</s><s>Career.:Advisorships. Ghosn served on the International Advisory Board of Brazilian bank Banco Itaú (a major party in the privatisation of

Carlos Ghosn

Renault) until 2015. He is also a member of the advisory board of Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management in Beijing. He has received an honorary doctorate from American University of Beirut; and he is a member of the Strategic Council, Saint Joseph University of Beirut. In 2014 and 2015, he was elected president of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. He serves as governor of the World Economic Forum.</s><s>Arrest in Tokyo, subsequent Nissan investigation and escape to Lebanon.</s><s>Arrest in Tokyo, subsequent Nissan investigation and escape to Lebanon.:Initial arrest. On 19 November 2018, Tokyo District Prosecutors arrested Ghosn at 4:30 p.m. upon his re-entry into Japan aboard a private jet that had come from Lebanon, for questioning over allegations of false accounting. Ghosn's top aide Greg Kelly, a Nissan director and former head of human resources, was also arrested upon his arrival from the U.S. that day. On the same day, Nissan chief executive Hiroto Saikawa announced at a press conference that Ghosn had been dismissed from Nissan's board and would be stripped of executive rights at a meeting to be held on 22 November. Saikawa stressed that the dismissal was the result of an internal inquiry by

Carlos Ghosn

Nissan, and alleged that Ghosn and Kelly had under-reported their compensation (a violation of securities law) and used company assets for personal use. While the allegations remained unproven in court, with due legal process pending, at the same news conference, Saikawa "expressed disappointment, indignation, and despair at Ghosn's conduct, which included using company funds for personal investments and misusing corporate assets" and also said, "This is an act that cannot be tolerated by the company... It is sufficient grounds for his dismissal." Although the company did not provide details, reports in the Japanese media stated that Nissan was paying all or some of the costs at some amount of US$18 million for residences used by Ghosn in Rio de Janeiro, Beirut, Paris and Amsterdam, and that Ghosn charged family vacation expenses to the company. The purchases of some of these residences and the payment of expenses were handled by a shell company named Zi-A Capital BV based in the Netherlands, which Kelly had instructed Nissan's board to set up to make venture investments at the end of 2010 (around the same time as Ghosn's divorce from his first wife and beginning of a relationship with his second wife). Nissan funds were used to purchase Ghosn's

Carlos Ghosn

Paris apartment in 2005, and Zi-A funds were used to purchase his $5 million beachfront Rio apartment in 2012 and his Beirut mansion, which, with renovations, cost over $15 million. Nissan compliance auditors began trying to track Zi-A activity in 2014 but were stymied at first by the chain of shell companies used in Zi-A investments. In addition, to avoid reporting the full amount of his compensation in Nissan financials, as required by Japanese law beginning in 2010, Ghosn had Kelly structure complicated deferred payment plans which went unreported under an aggressive interpretation of the disclosure rules which Nissan's outside auditors had not signed off on, and which totaled around $80 million at the time of his arrest eight years later. According to "Nikkei" reports, Ghosn told investigators that he instructed Kelly to handle the compensation reporting in a legal manner, and Kelly told investigators that he acted on advice from outside law firms and the Financial Services Agency in handling the reporting. Leaks to the media said that Ghosn had planned to call a vote to fire Nissan CEO Saikawa and reinstate Kelly (who had semi-retired to the U.S. in 2015) to active service at the scheduled board meeting. Ghosn

Carlos Ghosn

was detained at the Tokyo Detention House, under Japanese rules that allow suspects to be detained for up to 23 days without criminal charges being filed. Ghosn and Kelly were reportedly arrested on information provided by an unidentified non-Japanese executive in Nissan's legal department, in the second deal ever struck under Japan's recently introduced plea bargaining system. Charges were filed against Ghosn and Kelly on the underreporting of deferred compensation on 10 December, along with allegations of additional charges that restarted a 10-day holding period without bail. Nissan also took control of the Rio and Beirut properties and changed the locks, which has led Ghosn's family to sue for access.</s><s>Arrest in Tokyo, subsequent Nissan investigation and escape to Lebanon.:Continued detention and new charges. On 21 December 2018, Ghosn was re-arrested on suspicion of shifting to Nissan personal losses of US$16.6 million related to a personal swap contract in October 2008 (during the global financial crisis). The introduction of those charges prevented Ghosn's release on bail later the same day, because the new charges permitted an additional 10–20 days of incarceration prior to a bail hearing. Subsequent reporting linked this charge to Ghosn's dealings with Sheikh Khaled al-J

Carlos Ghosn

uffali, the vice chairman of one of Saudi Arabia's largest conglomerates and majority owner of a company which owns half of a regional joint venture called Nissan Gulf, with the other half held by a wholly owned Nissan subsidiary. In return for a personal letter of credit from Juffali to Ghosn during the 2008 crisis, which served as bank-demanded collateral for Ghosn's swap contract, Nissan indirectly paid $14.7 million from an internal discretionary fund known as the "CEO Reserve" to a wholly owned Juffali company in four installments between 2009 and 2012, although the internal documentation did not specify the ultimate recipient. According to Tokyo prosecutors, Kelly was not involved in this transaction and so was released on bail on 25 December. Ghosn made his first public appearance after his arrest at an arraignment on Tuesday, 8 January 2019, where he asserted his innocence, making a statement in response to the main allegations against him; however, his bid to be released from prison on these charges was rejected. Ghosn's imprisonment was set to end on 11 January 2019. That day, Ghosn was indicted on two additional charges: aggravated breach of trust and understating his income, once again extending his imprisonment. As a result, he could

Carlos Ghosn

remain in jail for months more before a trial would take place. Two days later, Nissan's investigation allegedly found that, in addition to the underreporting of salary already charged, Ghosn had paid himself an undisclosed $8 million in 2018 from a Netherlands-based joint venture owned by Nissan and Mitsubishi that was set up in 2017, without the knowledge of either company's directors because Ghosn had the sole authority to dispense cash from the venture. Ghosn again appealed the denial of bail from 8 January 2019 and offered to meet greater restrictions and higher guarantees of appearance in return for his release, including wearing an ankle bracelet and posting his Nissan stock as collateral. Additionally, on 14 January 2019 Ghosn's wife Carole published a letter that she wrote to Human Rights Watch protesting against his treatment in detainment. Nevertheless, on 21 January 2019, the Tokyo district court again denied bail. The Japanese term hitojichi shihō ("hostage justice") has been brought up in some media reports. Takashi Takano, one of Ghosn's lawyers stated that the Japanese judicial system is a country risk.</s><s>Arrest in Tokyo, subsequent Nissan investigation and escape to Lebanon.:Further developments. On 11 January 2019 José Muñoz, Nissan

Carlos Ghosn

's chief performance officer and head of its China operations, resigned from the company. Muñoz, considered to be a close ally to Ghosn and a possible successor as CEO of Renault and Nissan, had been a "person of interest" in Nissan's internal investigation, with which he was reported to be uncooperative. One of Nissan's three independent directors opined that Nissan may simply eliminate the position of chairman and not replace Ghosn, a route previously taken by other scandal-plagued Japanese companies. The Reuters Japan news service reported that Nissan may file suit against Ghosn personally. At first the French government and Renault had been reported to be standing behind Ghosn during his imprisonment, on the presumption that Ghosn is innocent until proven guilty. However, France's financial minister Bruno Le Maire stated on 16 January that Renault may seek a new CEO to replace Ghosn due to his continued incarceration. Renault possibly worried about Nissan taking the chance to use the power vacuum at Renault to reshape the alliance's balance of power. After the French government called for leadership change and his bail requests were rejected by the Japanese courts, Ghosn finally agreed to step down. He resigned as chairman and CEO of Renault on 24 January 2019. On 30

Carlos Ghosn

January 2019, Ghosn said the charges were "plot and treason" by executives at Nissan who opposed the relationship with Renault and a future plan that was in the works to integrate Nissan, Mitsubishi and Renault. In mid-February 2019, Ghosn's lead counsel Motonari Otsuru stepped down and was replaced by Jun'ichirō Hironaka, who has a record of success in a number of high-profile cases.</s><s>Arrest in Tokyo, subsequent Nissan investigation and escape to Lebanon.:Further developments.:Bail. In early March 2019, Ghosn was granted a request for bail in a Tokyo court. This was his third bail request, and the first by his new legal team under Hironaka. The court set bail at 1 billion yen (about US$9 million) subject to stringent conditions. He was not allowed to travel abroad, and had to remain at a given address under 24-hour camera surveillance, with no internet access. He was released on 6 March 2019. On 3 April 2019, Ghosn tweeted that he was "ready to tell the truth" and that he would hold a conference on 11 April 2019. He was re-arrested for the fourth time early on 4 April 2019 over

Carlos Ghosn

new suspicions of financial misconduct concerning alleged dealings via Oman. Ghosn released a statement claiming the arrest was "outrageous and arbitrary". Until that point in time he had been held for 108 days since he was first arrested in November 2018. On 8 April 2019, during an extraordinary shareholders meeting, Nissan shareholders voted to remove Carlos Ghosn from the company board. Shareholders also voted to remove Ghosn's former right-hand man Greg Kelly, and to appoint Renault chairman Jean-Dominique Senard as a director. The next day, Ghosn posted a YouTube video, where he publicly stated that he was "innocent of all the accusations that came around these charges that are all biased, taken out of context, twisted in a way to paint a personage of greed, and a personage of dictatorship". He also claimed that the payments to Juffali were meant to help Nissan fix a dispute with a local distributor, and to open a bank contract to convert his salary from yen to US dollars, in order to avoid currency swings. The Japanese court rejected an appeal filed by Ghosn's lawyers, and approved an initial 10 days detention for Ghosn, until 22 April 2019. He was released in late April, but confined to strict house

Carlos Ghosn

arrest, including having no contact with his wife for four months.</s><s>Arrest in Tokyo, subsequent Nissan investigation and escape to Lebanon.:Further developments.:Investigations in other countries. In June 2019 Renault published that in an internal audit they had uncovered 11 million euros in questionable expenses by Ghosn, which was followed by the French state opening its own investigation into his actions. Prosecutors in the district of Nanterre west of Paris stated that anti-fraud police had searched his residence in the town of L'Étang-la-Ville for evidence. In July Renault's headquarters in Boulogne-Billancourt were searched by 20 police personnel in relation to this case. July also saw Carlos Ghosn take action against French mass-media for libel. In August 2019 his wife Carole appealed to President Emmanuel Macron of France to intercede on behalf of her husband with Japanese leader Shinzo Abe at the 45th G7 summit held from 24 to 26 August at the French town of Biarritz. In September 2019, in one of the first legal accords of the saga, Ghosn settled with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over claims of failing to disclose more than $140 million in pay to him from Nissan

Carlos Ghosn

. He was fined $1 million while Nissan was fined $15 million and Greg Kelly $100,000. Although he neither admitted nor denied the SEC's charges, he accepted a ten-year ban from serving as an officer or director of a public company. Kelly accepted a five-year ban under similar terms. According to "The New York Times", the settlement all but ended Ghosn's career as a global business executive.</s><s>Arrest in Tokyo, subsequent Nissan investigation and escape to Lebanon.:Flight from Japan. On 30 December 2019, numerous media outlets reported that Ghosn had escaped from Japan and arrived in Beirut, Lebanon. Ghosn later confirmed these reports through a statement released by his press representative in New York. In his statement, Ghosn claimed that he would "no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese justice system where guilt is presumed, discrimination is rampant and basic human rights are denied." Ghosn left his Tokyo apartment at around 14:30 on 29 December 2019 and joined two men at a nearby hotel. The three then took a bullet train from Shinagawa to Osaka and arrived at a hotel near Kansai International Airport just after 20:00. The team hired to extract him from Tokyo had noticed that Japanese security did

Carlos Ghosn

not follow Ghosn into hotels, which facilitated his escape. A few hours later, two men left the hotel carrying large containers, including an audio equipment box where Ghosn was hidden. The men then boarded a Bombardier Global Express private jet with Turkish registration TC-TSR. The large box carrying Ghosn was never x-rayed or checked by customs officials, because it was too big to fit inside the x-ray machine; the plane left Kansai Airport at 23:10, landing at Istanbul Atatürk Airport at 5:26 on the morning of 30 December 2019. Within an hour of the plane's landing, a separate private jet left for Beirut. An employee at Turkish private jet operator MNG Jet admitted to falsifying passenger records, in which two separate planes were leased, one from Dubai to Osaka and then Osaka to Istanbul, while the other from Istanbul to Beirut. The Ambassador of Lebanon to Japan Nidal Yehya denied the involvement of the Embassy of Lebanon in Ghosn's escape, but "always stressed to him that he must abide by all the conditions of his release, as decided by the Criminal Court in Tokyo".</s><s>Arrest in Tokyo, subsequent Nissan investigation and escape to Lebanon.:Residence in Lebanon

Carlos Ghosn

. Following Ghosn's arrival in Lebanon, a Tokyo court granted a request by Japanese prosecutors to revoke his bail. While Japan and Lebanon are both members of Interpol and have had diplomatic relations since 1954, there is no extradition agreement between the two countries. Interpol has issued a red notice for his arrest. Japanese authorities raided Ghosn's Tokyo apartment on 2 January looking for evidence. Ghosn later addressed reports that his family, including his wife Carole, may have played a role in his departure from Japan, stating that "such speculation is inaccurate and false." On 7 January, prosecutors in Japan issued an arrest warrant for Carole Ghosn on suspicion of giving false testimony during a court hearing in April 2019. Carlos Ghosn held his first press conference since leaving Japan on 8 January 2020, in which he described his imprisonment conditions, pleaded innocence and named Nissan executives who plotted his demise. He claimed that when he left Japan, "I fled injustice and political persecution." The next day, Judge Ghassan Ouiedat, a Lebanese prosecutor, imposed a travel ban on Ghosn. After his escape from Japan, Carlos Ghosn's Japanese lawyer and seven other members of his defense resigned. His lawyer, Junichiro Hironaka,

Carlos Ghosn

said his escape was a "complete surprise". On 10 February 2020, Ghosn hired former Disney president Michael Ovitz, co-founder of the Creative Artists Agency, as his Hollywood agent. On 12 February 2020, Nissan launched a $90 million lawsuit against Ghosn for alleged “corrupt” actions, and on 29 February 2020, Japan's financial regulators fined Nissan 2.42 billion yen ($22 million) for underreporting remuneration of former Chairman Ghosn and other executives for years. On 8 July 2020, "The Nikkei" reported that $862,500 was paid from a Paris bank account related to Ghosn to Promote Fox, a company managed by Michael Taylor, an ex-Green Beret who helped him flee to Lebanon. Ghosn's house in Lebanon sustained damage following the August 2020 Beirut explosion, which occurred 5 kilometers (3 miles) away from the residence. On 3 November 2020, Lebanon's prosecutor general decided not to charge Ghosn for visiting Israel in 2008 because the statute of limitations had expired. Previously, some Lebanese lawyers wanted Ghosn prosecuted over his 2008 trip to Israel as the chairman of Renault-Nissan to meet Better Place founder Shai Agassi, which they claim violated the

Carlos Ghosn

Arab League boycott of Israel. In November 2020 the United Nations human rights group said that the Japanese government should give Ghosn "compensation" and "other reparations" due to the arrest and detention conditions in November 2018. In November 2020, a United Nations working group on arbitrary detention concluded that Ghosn's arrest and detention in Japan was "fundamentally unfair". }} Despite the fact that the Nelson Mandela Rules set a 15-day limit on how long prisoners can be kept in isolation, Kelly was held in solitary confinement for 37 days before he was granted bail, and Ghosn for 108 days. The Taylors were in solitary confinement for more than 100 days each. “The Carlos Ghosn case, including Greg Kelly and the Taylors, is an aberration,” said William Cleary, an expert on Japanese law with a doctorate in criminal procedure. }} In December 2020, it was reported that French investigators would meet with Ghosn in January 2021 as part of a separate investigation of expenses covered by a Dutch subsidiary of Renault and Nissan. Ghosn is under two investigations in France, one that is focused on suspicious transactions between Renault and a distributor in Oman, as well as another investigation into alleged illegal payments for private

Carlos Ghosn

trips and events paid by Renault-Nissan's Netherlands-based holding company, RNBV. In a January 2021 interview, Ghosn questioned why France was questioning him over the charges, while Japan did not, and denied the charges.</s><s>Arrest in Tokyo, subsequent Nissan investigation and escape to Lebanon.:Prosecution and conviction of facilitators of his escape from Japan. Arrest warrants issued by Japanese prosecutors on 30 January 2020 claimed that the escape operation was orchestrated by former United States Army Special Forces soldier Michael Taylor, a private-security contractor with extensive contacts in Lebanon. The warrants also claimed that Michael was assisted by his son Peter Maxwell Taylor and a third American, George Antoine Zayek. Michael Taylor had conducted similar international rescue operations in the past. On 8 May, Turkey charged seven people accused of helping Ghosn flee to Lebanon via Istanbul. On 20 May, United States authorities arrested Michael and Peter Taylor on suspicion of helping Ghosn escape. On 30 October 2020, the US agreed to extradite the Taylors to Japan. In June 2021, Michael Taylor and his son Peter, pleaded guilty in Tokyo to helping Ghosn escape from Japan in December 2019. The Taylors later expressed their regret and apologized to the Japanese. In addition

Carlos Ghosn

, it was revealed that Ghosn paid the Taylors more than $1 million for their services, in the form of bank transfers and bitcoin payments. In July 2021, the Taylors were convicted and sentenced in Japan for aiding Ghosn. Michael was sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment while his son received a 20 months' sentence.</s><s>Arrest in Tokyo, subsequent Nissan investigation and escape to Lebanon.:Further prosecutions. In April 2022, France issued an international warrant for Ghosn's arrest, in addition to four other individuals who administrated the Omani company Suhail Bahwan Automobiles, in which the latter had allegedly helped Ghosn to funnel millions of dollars of Renault funds through them for his personal use, including the purchase of a 120-foot yacht. Ghosn said the timing of this warrant was "suspicious" and later mentioned that he wanted to stand trial on charges of financial wrongdoing to clear his name.</s><s>Personal life. Ghosn's first marriage was to Rita Kordahi, who came originally from Rayfoun, Lebanon, and whom he met in France in 1984. Together they had four children: Caroline, Nadine, Maya and Anthony. They divorced in 2012. In May 2016, Ghos

Carlos Ghosn

n married Lebanese-American Carole Nahas and, a few months later in October, threw a large party at the Grand Trianon of the Palace of Versailles, in the outskirts of Paris, to celebrate both the wedding and Carole's 50th birthday. He is reported by several Japanese media to have six private residences: in Tokyo, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Amsterdam, Beirut and New York. Ghosn, whom "Forbes" magazine called "the hardest-working man in the brutally competitive global car business", as of 2006 was splitting his time between Paris and Tokyo and logging roughly 150,000 miles (241 400 km) in airplanes per year. Japanese media called him "Seven-Eleven" ("work very hard from early in the morning till late at night"). He holds citizenship to Brazil and France. He has been noted for his direct, results-and-execution-oriented style in business strategy meetings, and for his interest in resolving problems from within a company by listening to workers and by cross-functional and cross-cultural team groupings. Ghosn is multilingual, speaking four languages fluently – Arabic, English, French, and Portuguese – and he has also studied Japanese. He is a partner

Carlos Ghosn

in Ixsir, a winery in the northern coastal town of Batroun, Lebanon. In 2012, he was named to the Honorary Board of the American Foundation of Saint George Hospital in Beirut. In 2020, he became a coach to business leaders at USEK. Ghosn was hailed as a potential presidential candidate in Lebanon in 2007. In a June 2011 survey by life-insurance company Axa, Ghosn was ranked No. 7 in a random poll asking Japanese people, "Which celebrity do you want to run Japan?" (Barack Obama was No. 9, and Prime Minister Naoto Kan was No. 19.) He has so far declined such overtures, saying he has "no political ambitions". Ghosn's lawyers have stated he has chronic kidney disease which they claim was worsened by his lack of access to proper treatment while imprisoned.</s><s>Personal life.:In the media. Beginning in November 2001, Ghosn's life story was turned into a superhero comic book series in Japan, titled "The True Story of Carlos Ghosn", in the manga comic book "Big Comic Superior". The series was published as a book in 2002. His face has been reproduced both in Lebanese postage stamps and in bento boxes in Japanese restaurants

Carlos Ghosn

. Ghosn is the subject of a number of books in English, Japanese, and French. In English, he wrote a bestselling business book called "Shift: Inside Nissan's Historic Revival". He was the subject of another business book called "Turnaround: How Carlos Ghosn Rescued Nissan" by David Magee. He also provided strategic business commentary and on-the-job lessons to aspiring managers in a book called "The Ghosn Factor: 24 Inspiring Lessons From Carlos Ghosn, the Most Successful Transnational CEO" by Miguel Rivas-Micoud. Netflix in 2022 released a documentary titled "Fugitive: The Curious Case of Carlos Ghosn", which chronicles Ghosn's rise, as well as the internal rivalries and tensions he sparked within Nissan-Renault, and his dramatic arrest.</s><s>Awards and recognition. As a result of his achievements, Ghosn has had numerous awards and honors bestowed upon him. Some of these include: - In 2001, he topped "TIME" magazine's list of Global Influentials, beating Bill Gates and several other globally renowned businessmen. - In 2001, he was named Father of the Year by a Japanese community group. - In 2002, he was appointed a

Carlos Ghosn

Chevalier of the Legion of Honour ("Knight of the Legion of Honour") by the French government. - In 2002 "Fortune" awarded him Asia Businessman of the Year. - In 2003, he was named Man of the Year by "Fortune" magazine's Asian edition. - In 2003 "Fortune" listed him as one of the 10 most powerful business leaders outside the U.S. - In 2004, he became the first foreign business leader to receive the prestigious Blue Ribbon Medal from Emperor Akihito of Japan. - In 2004, he was added to the Automotive Hall of Fame. - In 2004, he was also added to the Japan Automotive Hall of Fame. - In 2006, Ghosn was made an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. - In 2010, "CEO Quarterly" magazine listed Ghosn as one of the "Most Respected CEOs". - In 2010, He was appointed as the jury member of the Takreem Award Committee between 2010 and 2018. - In 2011, CNBC listed Ghosn as Asia Business Leader of the Year. - In 2012, Ghosn was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite, an honorific designation to civilians in

Carlos Ghosn

recognition of services that benefit Morocco. - In 2012, Ghosn received the Japan Society Award. - In 2012, Ghosn became the first person in the auto industry, and the fourth overall, to win a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Strategic Management Society, a non-profit group that promotes ethical and strategic business stewardship. - In 2012, Ghosn was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, an honorific designation to civilians in recognition of services that benefit Spain. - In 2013, he was appointed an International Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. - In 2017, Lebanon's national post office, LibanPost, unveiled a collectable stamp honoring Carlos Ghosn.</s><s>Bibliography.</s><s>Bibliography.:Books. - - - - - -</s><s>Bibliography.:Articles. -</s><s>Further reading. -  Japanese version: "カルロス・ゴーン もたらした光と影".</s>


Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Lupe Vélez.

Lupe Vélez

<s>Lupe Vélez María Guadalupe Villalobos Vélez (July 18, 1908 – December 13, 1944), known professionally as Lupe Vélez, was a Mexican actress, singer and dancer during the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. Vélez began her career as a performer in Mexican vaudeville in the early 1920s. After moving to the United States, she made her first film appearance in a short in 1927. By the end of the decade, she was acting in full-length silent films and had progressed to leading roles in "The Gaucho" (1927), "Lady of the Pavements" (1928) and "Wolf Song" (1929), among others. Vélez made the transition to sound films without difficulty. She was one of the first successful Latin-American actresses in Hollywood. During the 1930s, her explosive screen persona was exploited in successful comedic films like "Hot Pepper" (1933), "Strictly Dynamite" (1934) and "Hollywood Party" (1934). In the 1940s, Vélez's popularity peaked while appearing as Carmelita Fuentes in eight "Mexican Spitfire" films, a series created to capitalize on

Lupe Vélez

her fiery personality. Nicknamed "The Mexican Spitfire" by the media, Vélez's personal life was as colorful as her screen persona. She had several highly publicized romances with Hollywood actors and a stormy marriage with Johnny Weissmuller. Vélez died at age 36 in December 1944 of an intentional overdose of the barbiturate drug Seconal. Her death and the circumstances surrounding it were the subject of speculation and controversy.</s><s>Life and career.</s><s>Life and career.:Childhood and education. Vélez was born in the city of San Luis Potosí in Mexico, the daughter of Jacobo Villalobos Reyes, a colonel in the armed forces of the dictator Porfirio Diaz, and his wife Josefina Vélez, an opera singer according to some sources, or vaudeville singer according to others. She was one of five children; she had three sisters: Mercedes, Reina and Josefina and a brother, Emigdio. The Villalobos were considered a prominent, financially comfortable family in San Luis Potosí. According to Vélez's second cousin, they lived in a large home, and most of the male members received a college education. At the age of

Lupe Vélez

13, her parents sent her to study at Our Lady of the Lake (now Our Lady of the Lake University) in San Antonio, Texas, where Vélez learned to speak English and dance. She later admitted that she liked dance class, but was otherwise a poor student.</s><s>Life and career.:Beginnings in Mexico and arrival to the United States (1924–26). Vélez began her career in Mexican revues in the early 1920s. She initially performed under her paternal surname (see Hispanic American naming customs) of Villalobos, but after her father returned home from the war (he did not die in combat as some sources state), he was outraged that his daughter had decided to become a stage performer. She chose her maternal surname Vélez as her stage name. Their mother introduced Vélez and her sister Josefina to the popular Spanish Mexican vedette María Conesa, "La Gatita Blanca". Vélez debuted in a show led by Conesa, where she sang "Oh Charley, My Boy" and danced the shimmy. In 1924, Aurelio Campos, a young pianist and friend of the Vélez sisters, recommended Vélez to stage producers Carlos Ortega

Lupe Vélez

and Manuel Castro. Ortega and Castro were preparing a season revue at the Regis Theatre, and hired Vélez to join the company in March 1925. Later that year, Vélez starred in the revues "Mexican Rataplan" and "¡No lo tapes!" (both parodies of the Bataclan's shows in Paris). Her suggestive singing and provocative dancing was a hit with audiences, and she soon established herself as one of the main stars of vaudeville in Mexico. After a year and a half, Vélez left the revue after the manager refused to give her a raise. She then joined the "Teatro Principal", but was fired after three months due to her "feisty attitude". Vélez was quickly hired by the "Teatro Lirico", where her salary rose to 100 pesos a day. Vélez, whose volatile and spirited personality and feuds with other performers were often covered by the Mexican press, also honed her ability for garnering publicity. Her most bitter rivals included the Mexican vedettes Celia Padilla, Celia Montalván, and Delia Magaña. Called "La Niña Lupe" because of her youth

Lupe Vélez

, Vélez soon established herself as one of the main stars of vaudeville in Mexico. Among her admirers were notable Mexican poets and writers like José Gorostiza and Renato Leduc. In 1926, Frank A. Woodyard, an American who had seen Vélez perform, recommended her to stage director Richard Bennett (the father of actresses Joan and Constance Bennett). Bennett was looking for an actress to portray a Mexican cantina singer in his upcoming play "The Dove". He sent Vélez a telegram inviting her to Los Angeles to appear in the play. Vélez had been planning to go to Cuba to perform, but quickly changed her plans and traveled to Los Angeles. However, upon arrival, she discovered that she had been replaced by another actress. While in Los Angeles, she met the comedian Fanny Brice. Brice was taken with Vélez and later said she had never met a more fascinating personality. She promoted Vélez's career as a dancer and recommended her to Flo Ziegfeld, who hired her to perform in New York City. While Vélez was preparing to leave Los Angeles, she received a call from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer producer Harry Rapf, who offered her a screen test

Lupe Vélez

. Producer and director Hal Roach saw Vélez's screen test and hired her for a small role in the comic Laurel and Hardy short "Sailors, Beware!".</s><s>Life and career.:Breakthrough and success (1927–38). After her debut in the short film "Sailors, Beware!", Vélez appeared in the Hal Roach short, "What Women Did for Me", opposite Charley Chase. Later that year, she did a screen test for the upcoming Douglas Fairbanks full-length film "The Gaucho". Fairbanks was impressed by Vélez and he quickly signed her to a contract. Upon its release in 1927, "The Gaucho" was a hit and critics were duly impressed with Vélez's ability to hold her own alongside Fairbanks, who was well known for his spirited acting and impressive stunts. Vélez made her second major film, "Stand and Deliver" (1928), directed by Cecil B. DeMille. That same year, she was named one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars. In 1929, Vélez appeared in "Lady of the Pavements", directed by D. W. Griffith and "Where East Is East", playing a young Chinese woman. In the Western

Lupe Vélez

film "Wolf Song", directed by Victor Fleming, she appears alongside Gary Cooper. As she was regularly cast as "exotic" or "ethnic" women that were volatile and hot tempered, gossip columnists took to referring to Vélez as "Mexican Hurricane", "The Mexican Wildcat", "The Mexican Madcap", "Whoopee Lupe" and "The Hot Tamale". By 1929, the film industry was transitioning from silents to sound films. Several stars of the era saw their careers abruptly end due to heavy accents or voices that recorded poorly. Studio executives predicted that Vélez's accent would probably hamper her ability to make the transition. That idea was dispelled after she appeared in her first all-talking picture in 1929, the Rin Tin Tin vehicle, "Tiger Rose". The film was a hit and Vélez's sound career was established. With the arrival of talkies, Vélez appeared in a series of Pre-Code films like "Hell Harbor" (directed by Henry King), "The Storm" (1930, directed by William Wyler), and the crime drama "East Is West" opposite Edward G. Robinson (1930). In 1931, she appeared in her second film for Cecil B. DeM

Lupe Vélez

ille, "Squaw Man", opposite Warner Baxter, and in "Resurrection", directed by Edwin Carewe. In 1932, Vélez filmed "The Cuban Love Song" (1931), with the popular singer Lawrence Tibbett. That same year, she had a supporting role in "Kongo" (a sound remake of "West of Zanzibar"), with Walter Huston. She also starred in Spanish-language versions of some of her movies produced by Universal Studios like "Resurrección" (1931, the Spanish version of "Resurrection"), and "Hombres en mi vida" (1932, the Spanish version of "Men in Her Life"). Vélez soon found her niche in comedy, playing beautiful, but volatile, characters. In February 1932, Vélez took a break from her film career and traveled to New York City where she was signed by Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. to take over the role of "Conchita" in the musical revue "Hot-Cha!". The show also starred Bert Lahr, Eleanor Powell and Buddy Rogers. In 1933, Vélez appeared in the films "The Half-Naked Truth" with Lee Tracy and "Hot

Lupe Vélez

Pepper", with Victor McLaglen and Edmund Lowe. Later that year, she returned to Broadway where she starred opposite Jimmy Durante in the musical revue "Strike Me Pink". In 1934, she filmed "Palooka" and "Strictly Dynamite" (both also with Durante). That same year, Vélez was cast as "Slim Girl" in "Laughing Boy" with Ramón Novarro. The film was quietly released and largely ignored. The few reviews it received panned the film, but praised Vélez's performance. She had more success with her brief appearance in the all-comedy-cast film "Hollywood Party", where she has a magnificent egg-breaking routine with Laurel and Hardy. Although Vélez was a popular actress, MGM Studios did not renew her contract in 1934. Over the next few years, Vélez worked for various studios as a freelance actress; she also spent two years in England where she filmed "The Morals of Marcus" and "Gypsy Melody" (both 1936). She returned to Los Angeles the following year where she appeared in the final part of the Wheeler & Woolsey comedy "High Flyers" (1937). Vélez last Broadway performance was in the 1938

Lupe Vélez

musical "You Never Know", by Cole Porter. The show received poor reviews from critics, but received a large amount of publicity due to the feud between Vélez and fellow cast member Libby Holman. Holman was also irritated by the attention Vélez garnered from the show with her impressions of several actresses including Gloria Swanson, Katharine Hepburn and Shirley Temple. The feud came to a head during a performance in New Haven, Connecticut after Vélez punched Holman between curtain calls and gave her a black eye. The feud effectively ended the show. Upon her return to Mexico City in 1938 to star in her first Mexican film, Vélez was greeted by ten thousand fans. The film "La Zandunga" directed by Fernando de Fuentes, co-starring Mexican actor Arturo de Córdova, was a critical and financial success and Vélez was slated to appear in four more Mexican films. She instead returned to Los Angeles and went back to work for RKO.</s><s>Life and career.:Continued success and final roles (1939–44). In 1939, Vélez was cast opposite Leon Errol and Donald Woods in a B-comedy, "The Girl from Mexico". Despite being a B film

Lupe Vélez

, it was a hit with audiences and RKO re-teamed her with Errol and Woods for a sequel, "Mexican Spitfire". That film was also a success and led to a series of "Spitfire" films (eight in all). In the series, Vélez portrays "Carmelita Lindsay", a temperamental yet friendly Mexican singer married to Dennis "Denny" Lindsay (Woods), an elegant American gentleman. The "Spitfire" films rejuvenated Vélez's career. Moreover, they were films in which a Latina headlined for eight movies straight –a true rarity. In addition to the "Spitfire" series, she was cast in other musical and comedy features for RKO, Universal Pictures, and Columbia Pictures. Some of these films were "Six Lessons from Madame La Zonga" (with Leon Errol, 1941), "Playmates" (opposite John Barrymore, 1941), and "Redhead from Manhattan" (1943). The latter film has Vélez playing the dual role of a Broadway star and her visiting twin sister, and offers the viewer a rare chance to hear Lupe Vélez's actual speaking voice. She plays the visiting sister with her customary, exaggerated Mexican accent

Lupe Vélez

, but plays the actress with her own, gently inflected voice, betraying only a trace of an accent. In 1943, the final film in the "Spitfire" series, "Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event", was released. By that time, the mistaken-identity scripts and situations had been repeating themselves, and the novelty of the series had begun to wane, but Vélez's energy and Errol's clowning never flagged. Vélez co-starred with Eddie Albert in a 1943 romantic comedy, "Ladies' Day", about an actress and a baseball player. In 1944, Vélez returned to Mexico to star in an adaptation of Émile Zola's novel "Nana", which was well received. It would be her final film. After filming wrapped, Vélez returned to Los Angeles and began preparing for another stage role in New York.</s><s>Death. On the evening of December 13, 1944, Vélez dined with her two friends, the silent-film star Estelle Taylor and Venita Oakie. Vélez retired to her bedroom, where she consumed 75 Seconal pills and a glass of brandy. Her secretary, Beulah Kinder, said that she found the actress

Lupe Vélez

's body on her bed later that morning. A suicide note addressed to Harald Ramond was found nearby. It read: To Harald, May God forgive you and forgive me too, but I prefer to take my life away and our baby's before I bring him with shame or killing him. – Lupe. On the back of the note, Vélez wrote: How could you, Harald, fake such a great love for me and our baby when all the time, you didn't want us? I see no other way out for me, so goodbye, and good luck to you, Love Lupe. The day after Vélez's death, Harald Ramond told the press that he was "so confused" by Vélez's suicide, and claimed that even though the two had broken up, he had agreed to marry Vélez. He admitted that he once asked Vélez to sign an agreement stating that he was only marrying her to "give the baby a name", but claimed he only did so because he and Vélez had had a fight, and he was in a "terrible temper". Actress Estelle Taylor, who was with Vélez from 9:00 the previous night until 3:30 the morning V

Lupe Vélez

élez died, told the press that Vélez had told her of her pregnancy, but said she would rather kill herself than have an abortion. Beulah Kinder, Vélez's secretary, later told investigators that after Vélez broke off the relationship with Ramond, she planned to go to Mexico to have her baby. Kinder said Vélez soon changed her mind after concluding that Ramond "faked" the relationship and considered having an abortion. The day after Vélez's death, the Los Angeles County coroner requested that an inquest be opened to investigate the circumstances surrounding her death. On December 16, the coroner dropped the request, after determining that Vélez had written the notes, and that she had intended to kill herself. On December 22, a funeral for Vélez was held at the mortuary at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles. Among the pallbearers were Vélez's ex-husband, Johnny Weissmuller, and actor Gilbert Roland. After the service, Vélez's body was sent by train to Mexico City, where a second service was held on December 27. Her body was then interred at Panteón Civil de Dolores Cemetery.</s><s>Death.:Alternative theories and urban legend. Despite

Lupe Vélez

the coroner's ruling that Vélez committed suicide to avoid the shame of bearing an illegitimate child, some authors have speculated that this was not entirely true. In the book "From Bananas to Buttocks: The Latina Body in Popular Film and Culture", Rosa-Linda Fregoso wrote that Vélez was known for her defiance of contemporary moral convention, and that it seems unlikely that she could not have reconciled having a child out of wedlock. Fregoso believes that in the final year of her life, Vélez exhibited signs of extreme mania and depression. Fregoso goes on to speculate that Vélez's death may have been the result of an untreated mental illness such as bipolar disorder. Robert Slatzer (who later claimed to have been secretly married to Marilyn Monroe) claimed that a few weeks before Vélez's death, he interviewed her at her home and she confided in him that she was pregnant with Gary Cooper's child (by that time, Cooper was married to socialite Veronica "Rocky" Balfe). According to Slatzer, Vélez said that Cooper refused to acknowledge the child, believing that Harald Ramond was the father. After Vélez died, Slatzer said he

Lupe Vélez

asked Cooper about the situation and Cooper confirmed that it was possible he might have been the father. Slatzer further claimed that he also interviewed Clara Bow (who had also dated Cooper in the 1920s), who revealed that shortly before Vélez's death, Cooper called her and screamed that he was going to kill Harald Ramond for impregnating Vélez. Slatzer claimed that Bow told him that she never believed Vélez's baby was fathered by Ramond, and that she was convinced that Vélez had attempted to get Ramond to marry her to protect Cooper's reputation. Biographer Michelle Vogel speculated that if Cooper was the father, his rejection of Vélez and their child coupled with the idea of having to raise a child alone may have sent Vélez "over the edge". In the 2002 book "Tarzan, My Father", Johnny Weissmuller Jr. recounted the events surrounding Vélez's death as a mystery caused by an attempt to "put a lid" on what happened. It states her housekeeper discovered her body and called Bo Roos, Vélez's business manager, who called his friend and Beverly Hills Police Chief Anderson to the scene. The book states after Vélez arranged to meet

Lupe Vélez

Ramond, decorated her room, and dressed in a negligee, her ingestion of Seconal was either to calm her nerves to meet him or a failed dramatic gesture to scare him. The book also suggested the baby was fathered possibly by Cooper, not Ramond. Vélez's death was recounted in the 1959 book "Hollywood Babylon" by Kenneth Anger, and has become urban legend. In his telling, Vélez planned to stage a beautiful suicide scene atop her satin bed, but the Seconal did not mix well with the "Mexi-Spice Last Supper" she had eaten earlier that evening. As a result, she became violently ill, stumbled to the bathroom to vomit, slipped on the bathroom floor tile, and fell head first into the toilet, where she subsequently drowned. Anger claimed that Vélez's "chambermaid" Juanita found her the next morning. Despite the fact that his version of events contradicts published reports and the official ruling, his story is often repeated as fact or for comedic effect – it was recounted in the pilot episode of the television comedy series "Frasier", “The Good Son”, (September 16, 1993), referred in an episode of the cartoon "The Simpsons" and mentioned in

Lupe Vélez

the song "I Wanna O.D." by the Demolition Doll Rods. Vélez's biographer, Michelle Vogel, points out that it would have been "virtually impossible" for Vélez to have "stumbled to the bathroom" or even get off her bed after having consumed such a large amount of Seconal. Seconal, a barbiturate, is noted for being fast acting even in small doses, and Vélez's death was probably instantaneous. Her death certificate lists "Seconal poisoning" due to "ingestion of Seconal" as the cause of death, not drowning. Further, there was also no evidence to suggest Vélez had vomited.</s><s>Personal life.</s><s>Personal life.:Public image and personality. Throughout her career, Vélez's onscreen persona of a hot-tempered, lusty "wild" woman was closely tied to her off-screen personality. The press often referred to her by such names as "The Mexican Spitfire", "The Mexican It girl" and "The Mexican Kitten". Publicly promoted with the "Whoopee Lupe" persona that tried to define her, she dismissed the idea that she was uncontrollably wild. In an interview,

Lupe Vélez

she said: Vélez's off-screen behavior blurred the line between her onscreen persona and her real personality. After her death, journalist Bob Thomas recalled that Vélez was a "lively part of the Hollywood scene" who wore loud clothing and made as much noise as possible. She attended boxing matches every Friday night at the Hollywood Legion Stadium and would stand on her ringside seat and scream at the fighters. Vélez's temper and jealousy in her often tempestuous romantic relationships were well documented and became tabloid fodder, often overshadowing her career. Vélez was straightforward with the press and was regularly contacted by gossip columnists for stories about her romantic exploits. One such incident included Vélez chasing her lover Gary Cooper around with a knife during an argument and cutting him severely enough to require stitches. After their breakup, Vélez attempted to shoot Cooper while he boarded a train. During her marriage to actor Johnny Weissmuller, stories of their frequent physical fights were regularly reported in the press. Vélez reportedly inflicted scratches, bruises, and love-bites on Weissmuller during their fights and "passionate love-making". Vélez often targeted fellow actresses whom she deemed as rivals, professionally or otherwise, a habit

Lupe Vélez

which began back in her vaudeville days and continued in films. Vélez's image was that of a wild, highly sexualized woman who spoke her mind and was not considered a "lady", while fellow Mexican actress Dolores del Río projected herself as sensual, but elegant and restrained, often hailing from aristocratic roots. Vélez hated del Río, and called her "bird of bad omen". Del Río was terrified to meet her in public places. When this happened, Vélez was scathing and aggressive. Vélez openly mimicked del Río, ironically making fun of her elegance. Vélez also disliked Marlene Dietrich whom she suspected of having an affair with Gary Cooper while filming "Morocco" in 1930. Her rivalries with Jetta Goudal, Lilyan Tashman and Libby Holman were also well documented. In retaliation, Vélez would perform scathing impersonations of the women she disliked at Hollywood parties. Also notable are her imitations of figures such as Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Fanny Brice, Gloria Swanson, Katharine Hepburn, Simone Simon, and Shirley Temple.</s><s>Personal life.:Relationships and

Lupe Vélez

marriage. Vélez was involved in several highly publicized and often stormy relationships. Upon arriving in Los Angeles, she was linked to actors Tom Mix, Charlie Chaplin and Clark Gable. Her first long-term, high-profile relationship was with Gary Cooper. Vélez and Cooper met while filming 1929s "Wolf Song" and began a two-year relationship that was passionate and often stormy. When angered, Vélez was reported to have physically assaulted Cooper. Cooper eventually ended the relationship in mid-1931, at the behest of his mother Alice who after meeting her, strongly disapproved of Vélez. With plans to marry him gone, she spoke to the press in 1931: "I turned Cooper down because his parents didn't want me to marry him and because the studio thought it would injure his career. Now its over, I'm glad I feel so free... I must be free. I know men too well they are all the same, no? If you love them they want to be boss. I will never have a boss." The rocky relationship had taken its toll on Cooper, who had lost 45 pounds and was suffering from nervous exhaustion. Paramount Pictures ordered him to take a vacation to recuperate and while he was boarding the

Lupe Vélez

train, Vélez showed up at the station and fired a pistol at him. After her breakup with Cooper, Vélez began a short-lived relationship with actor John Gilbert. They began dating in late 1931, while Gilbert was separated from his third wife Ina Claire. Rumors of an engagement were fueled by the couple, but Gilbert ended the relationship in early 1932, and attempted to reconcile with Claire. Shortly thereafter, Vélez met "Tarzan" actor Johnny Weissmuller while the two were in New York. They dated off and on when they returned to Los Angeles, while Vélez also dated actor Errol Flynn. On October 8, 1933, Vélez and Weissmuller were married in Las Vegas. There were reports of domestic violence and public fights. In July 1934, after ten months of marriage, Vélez filed for divorce citing "cruelty". She withdrew the petition a week later after reconciling with Weissmuller. On January 3, 1935, she filed for divorce a second time and was granted an interlocutory decree. That decree was dismissed when the couple reconciled a month later. In August 1938, Vélez filed for divorce for a third time, again charging Weissmuller with

Lupe Vélez

cruelty. Their divorce was finalized in August 1939. After the divorce became final, Vélez began dating polo player Guinn "Big Boy" Williams in late 1940. The couple were engaged, but never married. In late 1941, she became involved with author Erich Maria Remarque. Actress Luise Rainer recalled that Remarque told her "with the greatest of glee" that he found Vélez's volatility wonderful when he recounted to her an occasion where Vélez became so angry with him that she took her shoe off and hit him with it. After dating Remarque, Vélez was linked to boxers Jack Johnson and Jack Dempsey. In 1943, Vélez began an affair with her "La Zandunga" co-star Arturo de Córdova. De Córdova had recently moved to Los Angeles after signing with Paramount. Despite the fact that de Córdova was married to Mexican actress Enna Arana with whom he had four children, Vélez granted an interview to gossip columnist Louella Parsons in September 1943 and announced that the two were engaged. She told Parsons that she planned to retire after marrying de Córdova to "cook ... and keep house". Vé

Lupe Vélez

lez ended the engagement in early 1944, after de Córdova's wife refused to give him a divorce. Vélez then met and began dating a struggling young Austrian actor named Harald Maresch, whose stage name was Harald Ramond. In September 1944, she discovered she was pregnant with Ramond's child. She announced their engagement in late November 1944. On December 10, four days before her death, Vélez announced she had ended the engagement and kicked Ramond out of her home.</s><s>Legacy. For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Vélez has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6927 Hollywood Boulevard. In 2017, artist Emilio Borjas's sculpture in honor of Vélez was placed in the Garden of San Sebastian, the neighborhood where the actress was born in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.</s><s>In popular culture.</s><s>In popular culture.:Books. - In Robert Stone's novel "Children of Light", a troubled actress refers to a suicide-by-drowning scene she has just acted out as "Lupe Vélez takes a dunk". - Richard Kadrey also mentions Vélez in the Sandman Slim novel Killing Pretty with reference to the diner,

Lupe Vélez

Lupe's in Elysian Park, named after her as the place where she had her last dinner.</s><s>In popular culture.:Music. - The group Il Palco della Musica on their 2012 album "Tantipiccolipezzi" has a song "Lupe Vèlez" (M. Tucci / S. Scotto).</s><s>In popular culture.:Films and television. - In 1949, the "Los Angeles Daily News" reported that the Puerto Rican dancer Marquita Rivera was chosen to star in a biographical film based on the life of the actress. However, due to the controversy over Vélez's suicide at that time, the film was never produced. The Cuban rumbera Amalia Aguilar was also in talks to star in a film about Vélez, but later decided not to work in Hollywood, and returned to Mexico. Latina actress Estelita Rodriguez, who had once played Spitfire-like ingenues for Republic Pictures, announced that she would star in a screen biography of Vélez, but the project died with Rodriguez in March 1966. - Andy Warhol's underground film, "Lupe" (1965), starring Edie Sedgwick as Vélez, is loosely based on

Lupe Vélez

the night of her suicide. The film features Sedgwick (in her last film role for Warhol) preparing a "beautiful suicide" only to end up drowning in the toilet bowl. - James Leer (Tobey Maguire), while listing Hollywood suicides, says that Lupe Vélez died from taking "a lot of pills" in the 2000 film "Wonder Boys". - In August 2009, the short film "Forever Lupe" premiered at the Seattle Latino Film Festival. Directed by Martín Caballero, the film is based on the life of Vélez and features Mexican actress Marieli Romo as Vélez. - In 2012, it was reported that Mexican director Carlos Carrera was preparing to film the life of Lupe Vélez in a Mexican-American production. Mexican actress Ana de la Reguera was chosen to play Vélez. - Vélez is played by the Cuban-Venezuelan actress María Conchita Alonso in the 2014 film "Return to Babylon". - In the pilot episode of the sitcom "Frasier", "The Good Son", Frasier Crane's producer, Roz Doyle, tries to improve Frasier's outlook on his life by telling him the story

Lupe Vélez

of Lupe Vélez, who she says "decided to take one final stab at immortality". Roz re-tells the urban legend version of Vélez's suicide, reminding Frasier that "even though things might not happen like we planned, they can work out anyway". When Frasier asks "how it worked out for Lupe", Roz tells him that "all she wanted was to be remembered. Will you ever forget that story?" Later in the episode, Frasier asks a caller to his radio show: "Have you ever heard of the story of Lupe Vélez?" - In the 1997 "The Simpsons" episode "Homer's Phobia", guest star John Waters takes the Simpson family, sans Homer, on a driving tour of Springfield's shopping district. During the tour, he points out a store where he claims Vélez bought the toilet she drowned in.</s><s>References. Bibliography - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</s>


Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Cédric Bakambu.

Cédric Bakambu

<s>Cédric Bakambu Cédric Bakambu (born 11 April 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Super League Greece club Olympiacos and the DR Congo national team. He made his professional debut for Sochaux in 2010, and played 107 official games for them over five seasons, scoring 21 goals. He then moved to Bursaspor for €1.8 million, finishing as top scorer as his team came runners-up in the Turkish Cup, before signing for Villarreal a year later. Born in France, he represented them internationally at youth level up to the under-20s, scoring eight goals in 38 games and winning the 2010 UEFA European Championship for the under-19s. In 2015, he made his senior debut for the DR Congo national team.</s><s>Club career.</s><s>Club career.:Sochaux. Born in Vitry-sur-Seine, Val-de-Marne, Bakambu began his career at local Ivry at the age of 10 before transferring to Sochaux four years later. On 1 May 2010, Bakambu played in the 2010 Coupe Gambardella Final and scored a goal for his team at the Stade de France. So

Cédric Bakambu

chaux, however, lost the match 4–3 on penalties. He had previously scored a double in the team's 4–3 aggregate semi-final victory over Metz. Bakambu made his professional debut on 7 August 2010 in Sochaux's opening match of the Ligue 1 season against Arles-Avignon, appearing as an 83rd-minute substitute for Modibo Maïga in a 2–1 win at the Stade Auguste Bonal. The following month, he signed his first professional contract agreeing to a three-year deal with the club until June 2013. On 17 September 2011, Bakambu scored his first professional goal, the first equaliser in a 2–2 draw at Lille OSC, eleven minutes after replacing Carlāo. A year and nine days later, as a 66th-minute replacement for King Osanga, he scored twice in a 3–2 extra-time home win over Evian in the third round of the Coupe de la Ligue. Bakambu scored seven goals in 31 appearances over the 2013–14 Ligue 1 season, in which Sochaux were relegated; this included two on 21 December in a 2–1 home win over Rennes. Across the campaign, he

Cédric Bakambu

was placed on the right wing by manager Hervé Renard until he would become sufficiently mentally mature for a centre-forward role. On 23 March, he was sent off for handball in a 2–1 loss at Saint-Étienne.</s><s>Club career.:Bursaspor. On 1 September 2014, Bakambu left France for the first time, moving on a four-year transfer to Turkey's Bursaspor for a fee of €1.8 million and an annual salary of €800,000. He made his debut in the Süper Lig twelve days later, replacing Ozan İpek in the 55th minute of a 2–1 win at Gençlerbirliği. His first goals for the "Green Crocodiles" came on 19 October, in either half of a 2–2 draw against Eskişehirspor at the Bursa Atatürk Stadium, and six days later he scored a first professional hat-trick in a 5–0 win at Balıkesirspor. He finished his only league season in Bursa with 13 goals in 27 games. In the season's domestic cup, Bakambu was the top scorer with eight goals in

Cédric Bakambu

12 games as his team reached the final before a 3–2 home loss to Galatasaray. This tally included trebles in a 5–0 win at Mersin İdmanyurdu on 27 January and a 3–0 victory over Fatih Karagümrük nine days later, both in the group stage. As Galatasaray won the double, Bursaspor faced them in the 2015 Turkish Super Cup on 8 August, with Bakambu playing the whole of the 1–0 loss.</s><s>Club career.:Villarreal. On 19 August 2015, Spanish side Villarreal announced the signing of Bakambu on a five-year contract. He made his La Liga debut four days later, replacing Léo Baptistão in the 61st minute of a 1–1 draw at Real Betis in the first game of the season; on the 28th he came on for the same player and scored two goals in the closing minutes of the fixture against Espanyol at Estadio El Madrigal, to secure a 3–1 victory for the "Yellow Submarine". Bakambu played his first game in European competition on 17 September, again as a substitute in a 2–1 loss at Rapid

Cédric Bakambu

Wien in the group stage of the season's UEFA Europa League. On 22 October, he scored his first goals in the tournament, a first-half double in a 4–0 home win over Dinamo Minsk; he added another two the following 10 March against Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of the last 16 (2–0 win, same aggregate). In the quarter-finals, he scored twice in each leg of a 6–3 aggregate win over Sparta Prague. He was one of four strikers named in the competition's Squad of the Season, and his 9 goals put him only one behind the top scorer, Athletic Bilbao's Aritz Aduriz. On 1 October 2017, Bakambu scored a hat-trick in a 3–0 home win over Eibar. He then scored two goals in a 2–1 win at Girona and another in a 4–0 win over Las Palmas to be named La Liga Player of the Month, the first African to win the award. In early January 2018, Villarreal manager Javier Calleja said that Bakambu was going through a transfer to Beijing Sinobo Guoan of the Chinese Super League. On 17 January 2018, Bakambu rescinded his

Cédric Bakambu

contract with Villarreal. Two weeks later, however, Beijing Guoan still had not announced the signing of Bakambu who had already played and scored for the club. It was reported that Beijing Guoan were trying to avoid paying a 100 percent tax placed on incoming transfers worth over 45 million yuan (US$7 million) by the Chinese Football Association. The transfer went through in time for the start of the Chinese season with the full fees being paid.</s><s>Club career.:Beijing Guoan. On 28 February 2018, the final day of the Chinese transfer window, Bakambu's protracted transfer from Villarreal to Beijing Sinobo Guoan was finally confirmed with the club paid his €40million release clause, but Beijing did not announce the Congolese forward's signing amid confusion over whether they had to pay a 100 per cent levy on the transfer. He scored his first goal in China in his second game, in a 2–1 win over Jiangsu Suning. He won the Chinese FA Cup in his first season.</s><s>Club career.:Marseille. On 13 January 2022, Bakambu signed for French club Marseille on a contract until 30 June 2024. He scored in his first appearance for the club, after coming on as a

Cédric Bakambu

substitute in a 2-0 win over Lens.</s><s>Club career.:Olympiacos. On 16 September 2022, Bakambu signed for Greek club Olympiacos on a contract until 30 June 2025.</s><s>International career. Bakambu was a French youth international and has represented the country at both under-18 and under-19 level. He was a part of the team that won the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Championship on home soil. On 18 July, he scored twice in a 4–1 opening win over the Netherlands in Caen, and the 2–1 winner against Croatia in the semi-finals nine days later, also at the Stade Michel d'Ornano. He was also part of the team that came fourth at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia, opening a 2–0 win over Mali in the last group game in Cali. In March 2015, he opted to represent DR Congo at senior level. On arrival in Kinshasa he was greeted by fans with banners of him, later reflecting "I hadn't even played a match yet they made banners for me. It's really something else. It was through football that I discovered my country." He was first called up in June ahead of a

Cédric Bakambu

friendly against Cameroon on the 9th, and started that match, a 1–1 draw at the Stade Charles Tondreau in Mons, Belgium. On 26 March the following year, Bakambu scored his first international goal, opening a 2–1 win over Angola at the Stade des Martyrs with a penalty, in qualification for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. He added two more on 5 June, in a 6–1 win away to Madagascar. He was chosen in Florent Ibengé's squad for the final tournament in Gabon, and started in the opening group match, a 1–0 win over Morocco at the Stade d'Oyem. He then did not play again until a seven-minute run in the quarter-finals where the Congolese lost 2–1 to Ghana. On 24 March 2019, Bakambu returned to action for DR Congo after missing previous qualifiers vs. rivals Congo to injury. He started and scored the winner in a 1–0 victory against Liberia. This secured The Leopards' qualification to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, at the expense of their opponents. On 1 April 2022, following DR Congo's elimination from 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification at the hands of Morocco, Bakambu announced

Cédric Bakambu

his retirement from the national team.</s><s>Personal life. Born in France to parents from the DR Congo, Bakambu said "I grew up with both cultures and I am very proud of that. I think it's something that enriches you." Bakambu and international teammate Dieumerci Mbokani were at Brussels Airport when it was struck by terror attacks in March 2016; both escaped unharmed.</s><s>Career statistics.</s><s>Career statistics.:Club.</s><s>Career statistics.:International.</s><s>Honours. Bursaspor - Turkish Cup runner-up: 2014–15 Beijing Guoan - Chinese FA Cup: 2018 International France U19 - UEFA European Under-19 Championship: 2010</s><s>Honours.:Individual. - UEFA European Under-19 Championship Team of the Tournament: 2010 - Turkish Cup Top goalscorer: 2014–15 - Facebook FA La Liga Best Breakthrough: 2016 - Villarreal's Rookie of the Year: 2015–16 - UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season: 2015–16 - La Liga Player of the Month: October 2017 - Chinese Super League Top goalscorer: 2020 - Congolese Sportsperson of the Year: 2023 - Super League Greece Player of the Month:

Cédric Bakambu

January 2023</s><s>Honours.:Records. - Top goalscorer in the history of Beijing Guoan</s>