Kazuo Hirai
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He began his working life in music, joining CBS/Sony in April 1984. In July 1996 he moved to Sony Computer Entertainment America in the United States and became its CEO in August 2003. From December 2006 he led the PlayStation business as President and Group COO of Sony Computer Entertainment. He moved to the parent company in April 2009 and, after serving as EVP, became Representative Corporate Executive Officer and Executive Deputy President in April 2011. Neither an engineer nor a product of the electronics mainstream, he came up through software: music and games.
Selection
In April 2012 he succeeded Howard Stringer as President and CEO. In the fiscal year ended March 2012, the year before he took office, Sony recorded its largest-ever net loss of ¥456.7 billion, and flat-panel TVs had posted operating losses for eight consecutive years. Consolidated sales had fallen from ¥8,871.4 billion in the fiscal year ended March 2008 to ¥6,493.2 billion, about ¥2.4 trillion lost in four years. The appointment appears to have entrusted the electronics turnaround to the man who had led the PlayStation business.
Initiatives
His first message was not what to grow but what to give up. In February 2014 Sony agreed to transfer its VAIO-brand PC business to Japan Industrial Partners, and in July that year it spun off the TV business. In October 2016 it agreed to sell the battery business to Murata Manufacturing for about ¥17.5 billion, with Murata taking on some 8,500 employees, and completed the transfer in September 2017. At the same time it spun off image sensors as Sony Semiconductor Solutions in April 2016, and its February 2015 mid-term plan made ROE its most important metric.
Career
Career
CBS/Sony
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Apr 1984 | Joined |
Sony Computer Entertainment America
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Jul 1996 | EVP & COO |
| Apr 1999 | President and COO |
| Aug 2003 | President and CEO |
| Dec 2006 | Chairman |
Sony Computer Entertainment
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Oct 1997 | Executive Officer |
| Dec 2006 | Representative Director, President and Group COO |
| Jun 2007 | Representative Director, President and Group CEO |
| Sep 2011 | Representative Director, Chairman |
Sony
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Apr 2009 | Corporate Executive Officer, EVP |
| Apr 2011 | Representative Corporate Executive Officer, Executive Deputy President |
| Apr 2012 | Representative Corporate Executive Officer, President and CEO |
| Jun 2012 | Director |
| Apr 2018 | Stepped down as President |