Latest in Kazuo Hirai

In a surprise announcement Friday afternoon Tokyo time, Sony Corp said that Kazuo Hirai would step aside as President and CEO of the electronics giant, taking up the role of Director Chairman. He will be replaced in running the company by longtime Sony executive Kenichiro Yoshida whom he called a “confidante and…

Following the announcement that Sony Corp CEO Kazuo Hirai would step down from his post later this year, with CFO Kenichiro Yoshida replacing him, the Japanese conglomerate reported a 280% increase in operating income to 350.8B yen ($3.2B) for the third quarter ended December 31 2017. In net income attributable to…

Despite a report that indicates he has locked up the CEO job, there has been no offer made from Sony Pictures Entertainment to Tony Vinciquerra for the position. We heard the same information Friday and was told there are still two to three candidates in the mix. Although we understand Sony is currently conducting…

EXCLUSIVE: With Jim Gianopulos getting closer to a deal to run Paramount and the town all abuzz with who might come into the vice-chair role below him, we are hearing a bit more about the Sony Pictures executive job. A new candidate is emerging in Tony Vinciquerra, a highly capable executive and the senior adviser for…

Sony has been through the grinder lately, and Sony Corp president/CEO Kazuo Hirai and outgoing Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton gave an informational meeting that amounted to a pep talk about 135 senior executives today. The meeting was held late morning in the Akio Morita Building. Despite the fiscal woes and…

There’s something about Hollywood that dazzles overseas investors — most recently led by those in China. But the $962 million write down that Sony took this morning for its entertainment unit should give them pause. Sony’s announcement contributed to a 3.5% drop today in its U.S. shares. And it revives painful…

Sony Corp is due to announce its Q3 earnings on Thursday this week, but ahead of that the company said today it is taking a goodwill impairment charge for the Pictures division of 112.1B yen ($962M). This is being recorded as an operating loss in the third quarter ending December 31, 2016 as a result of revising the…

After 24 hours of rumors about an executive change at the top of Sony, word has just come from Michael Lynton to his employees that he is stepping down as CEO of Sony Entertainment after more than 12 years at the helm. The move comes after a meeting with Sony bigwigs in the past 48 hours. Lynton, 57, said he is…

Sony laid out its mid-term corporate strategy for 2015-2017 this afternoon in Tokyo, setting a target of more than 10% return on equity, and operating income of over 500B yen ($4.2B) for the fiscal year 2017. This is chief executive Kazuo Hirai's second mid-term plan since he took over in 2012 and includes an emphasis…

Sony downplayed the long-term impact of the devastating hack attack against its film division as the Japanese giant trimmed its loss forecast to $1.4 billion, boosted by higher-than-expected sales of its image sensors and PlayStation video game consoles. Sony Pictures benefited from a weakening Yen to show a…

Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai made his comments as a prelude to his product presentation today at the International CES confab in Las Vegas. He began on a light note, asking the audience at the press preview session: “How many of you went to see a great Sony movie this holiday? That’s great. Annie is a fantastic movie.” Then…

Sony’s U.S.-traded shares touched a 52-week high this morning after CEO Kazuo Hirai reiterated his support for the entertainment business. He unveiled ambitious new revenue and profit targets—along with additional cost cutting—for the fiscal year ending March 2018. Entertainment “is an extremely important part of…