The current CEO of Sony Entertainment Inc, Michael Lynton, is getting a new role.
Lynton is, in effect, the boss of both Sony Music Entertainment CEO Doug Morris and Sony/ATV chief Martin Bandier – something that will become even clearer cut if Sony’s acquisition of the outstanding 50% in Sony/ATV from the Jackson Estate is approved by regulators this month.
Lynton became CEO of Sony Entertainment Inc in 2012, taking music under his management following eight years as boss of Sony Pictures.
Sony has just announced that Lynton is one of four executives, all currently in charge of separate business segments at the Japanese giant, who are becoming ‘Corporate Executive Officers’ on April 1.
Alongside Lynton, other new CEOs are the worldwide bosses of PlayStation (Andrew House), Home Entertainment & Sound (Ichiro Takagi) and Mobile (Hiroki Totoki).
They, together with the six existing Corporate Executive Officers, will assume ultimate responsibility for the Sony Group’s management under the company’s Board of Directors (see below).
In addition to his new title, Lynton will continue to be the ‘officer in charge of Pictures and Music Businesses’ at Sony, across three roles: CEO of Sony Entertainment Inc, CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment and CEO of Sony Corporation of America.
And for Sony’s music execs, the re-org doesn’t stop there.
In a bid to ‘to further clarify lines of responsibility’ Sony is also ‘reclassifying’ other top-level executives, who will work under the oversight of relevant Corporate Executive Officers.
These figures, such as Sony Music CEO Doug Morris and Sony/ATV boss Marty Bandier, will officially become “Business Executives” of Sony Corporation next month. (See below)
Elsewhere, the executives responsible for the headquarters functions assigned to them under the oversight of relevant Corporate Executive Officers will be named “Corporate Executives” of Sony Corporation (see below).
The news comes as part of a restructure at Sony Corp that has seen the sequential splitting out of business units across the Sony Group.
In addition to Game & Network Services, Mobile Communications, Pictures, Music and certain other Sony Group businesses that were already operating autonomously as subsidiaries, in July 2014 Sony split out its TV business, followed by its Video & Sound business in October 2015.
The Company also plans to split out and establish its semiconductor business as a wholly owned subsidiary in April 2016.
Sony Corp’s Corporate Executive Officers (as of April 1, 2016):
Representative Corporate Executive Officers
- Kazuo Hirai
President and Chief Executive Officer - Kenichiro Yoshida
Executive Deputy President and Chief Financial Officer
Corporate Executive Officers (EVPs listed in order of appointment)
- Tomoyuki Suzuki
Executive Deputy President
Officer in charge of R&D Platform
In charge of Energy Business and Storage Media Business - Shiro Kambe
Executive Vice President
Officer in charge of Legal, Compliance, Corporate Communications, CSR and External Relations - Masashi Imamura
Executive Vice President
Officer in charge of Manufacturing, Logistics, Procurement,
Quality & Environment
In charge of Engineering Platform - Shigeki Ishizuka
Executive Vice President
Officer in charge of Imaging Products and Solutions Business
President of Digital Imaging Group
President of Professional Solutions and Services Group - Andrew House
(Newly appointed)
Executive Vice President
Officer in charge of Game & Network Services Business
President and Global CEO, Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC - Michael Lynton
(Newly appointed)
Executive Vice President
Officer in charge of Pictures and Music Businesses
CEO, Sony Entertainment Inc.
Chairman & CEO, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.
CEO, Sony Corporation of America - Ichiro Takagi
(Newly appointed)
Executive Vice President
Officer in charge of Home Entertainment & Sound Business and Consumer AV Sales & Marketing
Representative Director and President, Sony Visual Products Inc.
Representative Director and President, Sony Video & Sound Products Inc. - Hiroki Totoki
(Newly appointed)
Executive Vice President
Officer in charge of Mobile Communications Business
In charge of New Business Platform (Strategy)
President & CEO, Sony Mobile Communications Inc.
President and Representative Director, So-net Corporation
Sony corp ‘Business Executives’ (listed in order of appointment) (as of April 1, 2016):
- Katsumi Ihara
Executive President and Representative Director,
Sony Financial Holdings Inc.
Chairman, Director, Sony Life Insurance Co., Ltd. - Nobuki Kurita
Chairman, Sony (China) Co., Ltd - Doug Morris
CEO, Sony Music Entertainment - Martin Bandier
Chairman & CEO, Sony / ATV Music Publishing LLC - Hiroshi Kawano
President and Representative Director, Sony Marketing Inc.
President and Corporate Executive, Sony Marketing Japan Inc. - Masaru Tamagawa
Chairman, Representative Director and Global Sales & Marketing Officer, Sony Marketing Inc. - Kunimasa Suzuki
Executive Vice President, Sony Entertainment Inc. - Izumi Kawanishi
Director, EVP, Product Business Group,
Sony Mobile Communications Inc. - Yasuhiro Ueda
President, Representative Director,
Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation - Michael Fasulo
President and COO, Sony Electronics Inc. - Tomoo Hagimoto
President, Representative Director, Sony Life Insurance Co., Ltd. - Michinori Mizuno
Representative Director and CEO,
Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. - Hidehiko Teshirogi
EVP, Deputy Head of Product Business Group,
Sony Mobile Communications Inc.
In charge of TS Business, Sony Corporation - Yoshito Ezure
Representative Director and President,
Sony Energy Devices Corporation - Toru Katsumoto
Deputy President of Imaging Products and Solutions Sector
President of Professional Products Group
President of Medical Business Unit - Hideyuki Furumi
EVP, Global Sales & Marketing, Sony Mobile Communications Inc.
Director, So-net Corporation - Toshihiko Ohnishi
Deputy President of Professional Solutions and Services Group, Imaging Products and Solutions Sector - Terushi Shimizu
Representative Director and President, Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation
Sony corp Corporate Executives (listed in order of appointment) (as of April 1, 2016):
- Shoji Nemoto
Sony Group China Representative
In charge of Disc Manufacturing Business - Keiichiro Shimada
In charge of Mid-to-Long Term Technology, R&D Platform
In charge of Technology Policy and Relations - Fumiaki Sakai
Chief Information Officer - Masayuki Hattori
President of System R&D Group, R&D Platform - Teruo Hirayama
President of Device & Material R&D Group, R&D Platform - Toshimoto Mitomo
In charge of Intellectual Property and Mid-to-Long Term Business Development - Natsuko Takei
Senior General Manager of Legal & Compliance Department - Hiroichi Kawahira
President of Advanced Materials Laboratories,
Device & Material R&D Group, R&D Platform - Kazushi Ambe
In charge of Human Resources and General Affairs - Hiroyuki Sato
In charge of Quality & Environment
Deputy President of Digital Imaging Group, Imaging Products and Solutions Sector - Kazuhiko Takeda
In charge of Corporate Planning & Control and Accounting
Senior General Manager of Corporate Planning & Control Department
Group Executives to Retire (as of March 31, 2016)
- Nicole Seligman
President, Sony Corporation of America
President, Sony Entertainment Inc.
Senior Legal Counsel, Sony Group
Music Business Worldwide
