Olympus was founded in 1919 as a manufacturer of microscopes and thermometers and is now a leader in cameras and medical devices. In 2008, Olympus acquired three companies for $800 million but wrote down three-quarters of their value by the end of the year, and paid $700 million in advisory fees to an unknown Cayman Islands entity. When the new CEO, Michael Woodford, learned of the accounting scandal through a magazine, he was fired for raising concerns about the cover-up, damaging trust with employees, customers, and the government.