By Sam Nussey and Kantaro Komiya
TOKYO (Reuters) – Sony Group President Hiroki Totoki will add the CEO role from April 1, while incumbent Chairman and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida will remain as chairman, the entertainment and technology conglomerate said.
The moves cement the leadership of Totoki as Sony, once famous for its consumer electronics such as the Walkman, pushes to strengthen its position in entertainment. Yoshida is credited with helping to have engineered the shift.
Shares in Sony, whose business includes movies, music and image sensors, climbed 3.6% following the announcement, outperforming a 0.9% rise in the broader Tokyo market on Wednesday.
Totoki assumed the president’s post in 2023 and has also served as finance chief of the company. He already helms Sony’s earnings briefings and took the role of chairman of the key gaming unit behind the PlayStation 5 console as it took steps to improve margins.
“He spearheaded growth strategies for the Sony Group, such as our investments in content IP and semiconductors, and is a leader capable of shaping our vision and strategy for future growth,” Yoshida said in a company statement.
Lin Tao will become the first woman to serve as chief financial officer, after serving as an executive at the games business, with Hideaki Nishino to become CEO of that unit after serving as head of the technology side of the business.
Under earlier gaming chief Jim Ryan, Sony successfully launched the PlayStation 5 but also made an ambitious push into live service games and acquired developer Bungie for $3.6 billion in 2022 at a time of heightened industry dealmaking.
“With new leadership in place, and broader Sony in efficiency mode, we expect lower ‘M&A costs’ at Bungie – and cost reduction elsewhere – to be areas where PlayStation can under-promise and over-deliver,” Bernstein analysts wrote in a client note before the announcement.
While the games business has been grappling with a shortage of high profile titles, the pipeline includes “Ghost of Yotei” with “Grand Theft Auto VI” expected to boost the industry.
“We are positive for the next 1-3 years given a rich (software) pipeline,” Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal wrote in note this week, adding “there is a question over long-term growth.”
The company’s entertainment ambitions were underscored last year when Reuters reported Sony was in talks to acquire media powerhouse Kadokawa and eventually agreed to a capital tie-up.
(Reporting by Sam Nussey and Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Sonali Paul)
