Olympus (US)

Olympus Corporation is a Japan-based manufacturer of optics and reprography products. Olympus was established on 12 October 1919, initially specializing in microscope and thermometer businesses. Olympus enjoys a virtual stranglehold of the world market in gastro-intestinal endoscopes. Its has roughly 70% share of the global market whose estimated valued at US$2.5 billion. Its global headquarters are in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. In late 2011 the company fired its newly appointed British president, precipitating a scandal that wiped 75% off the company's stock market valuation. The scandal culminated in admission by the company that some of its board members had engaged in one of the biggest and most durable loss-concealing scams in the history of corporate Japan. In June 2012, Olympus announced it will cut 2,700 jobs, or 7 percent of its global work force, by the end of March 2014 and will scrap around 40 percent of its 30 manufacturing plants around the world by the end of March 2015 to reduce cost due to investment losses of 117.7 billion Yen ($1.5 billion) dating back to the 1990s.