Howard Stringer
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
Coming from the U.S. broadcaster CBS, he became President of Sony Corporation of America in 1997. In June 2005 he became Director, Representative Corporate Executive Officer, Chairman and CEO, taking the top management post of the group. Every president since Masaru Ibuka had been a Japanese company veteran; this was the first time Sony was led by an outsider and a foreign national. His background in broadcasting and media also set him apart from predecessors who came from hardware engineering or business planning.
Selection
In April 2009 he succeeded Ryoji Chubachi, adding the presidency to become Representative Corporate Executive Officer, Chairman, President and CEO; Chubachi moved to Representative Corporate Executive Officer and Vice Chairman. In the fiscal year ended March 2009, the year before, falling demand after the Lehman shock and a sharp rise in the yen hit electronics directly, and Sony posted its first operating loss since its founding, ¥227.8 billion, along with a net loss of ¥98.9 billion. The move appears to have ended the dual leadership of chairman-CEO and president in place since 2005 and concentrated command of restructuring in one person.
Initiatives
In 2011 Sony acquired Ericsson's stake to make Sony Ericsson wholly owned, bringing mobile phones into its own product lineup. The TV business, the biggest problem, did not turn around, however, and flat-panel TVs fell into operating losses for eight consecutive years. Consolidated sales dropped from ¥8,871.4 billion in the fiscal year ended March 2008 to ¥6,493.2 billion in the fiscal year ended March 2012, about ¥2.4 trillion lost in four years. In the fiscal year ended March 2012, his last, impairments in the TV business, restructuring costs and goodwill charges piled up into the largest-ever net loss of ¥456.7 billion.
Career
Career
Sony
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1997 | President, Sony Corporation of America |
| Jun 2005 | Director, Representative Corporate Executive Officer, Chairman and CEO |
| Apr 2009 | Representative Corporate Executive Officer, Chairman, President and CEO |
| Apr 2012 | Chairman |
| Apr 2012 | Stepped down as President |