Ghosn's journey: Star auto executive to masked suspect

Carlos Ghosn, the star auto executive credited with rescuing both Renault and Nissan, left a drab Tokyo detention center Wednesday after more than three months in custody, his identify obscured by a surgical mask, hat and construction worker's outfit.

The jet-setting turnaround wizard was pursued by TV news helicopters as he traveled in a tiny Suzuki van through Tokyo streets after his release on 1 billion yen (nearly $9 million) bail — a peculiar and humbling episode in a journey that has cast light on aspects of Japanese corporate life and its justice system that set the country apart.

Brazilian-born and raised in Lebanon, Ghosn had been held since his arrest on Nov. 19 shortly after he arrived at a Tokyo airport aboard a private jet.