Sony's Kutaragi steps down, Hirai rises
- April 26, 2007 00:00 AM PST
In a surprising boardroom shift, Sony veteran executive Ken Kutaragi will resign this June, leaving present COO Kazuo Hirai the responsibility of taking his place.
By Eugene Huang
Sony has announced today that, effective June 19th, 2007, present Chairman, Group CEO, and Representative Director Ken Kutaragi will retire from his executive positions at Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The timing of Kutaragi's resignation coincides with SCEI's annual shareholders' meeting, which will also take place on that exact date.
Taking the reins of SCEI thereafter will be current President and Group COO, Kazuo Hirai. Immediately following Kutaragi's retirement, Hirai will assume the roles of both President and Group CEO, and will continue to guide the PlayStation brand on a worldwide scale.
Although no longer an executive, Kutaragi, known across the world as the "Father of PlayStation", will remain aboard Sony past his retirement as a special senior technology advisor to Sir Howard Stringer, Chairman and CEO of Sony Corp. However, Kutaragi's personal dreams extend beyond the reach of PlayStation, and his future plans will involve accelerating his "network vision".
"I am happy to graduate from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. after introducing four platforms to the PlayStation family," Kutaragi said in a recent statement. "It has been an exciting experience to change the world of computer entertainment by marrying cutting edge technologies with creative minds from all over the world. I'm looking forward to building on this vision in my next endeavors."
SCEI has released the following statement in regards to the resignation:
"Mr. Kutaragi has said that he has been considering this decision for some time. He stated that, in the six months since the appointment of Kazuo Hirai as President in December, the new generation of management, led by Mr. Hirai, has continued to develop. With the March introduction of PS3 in Europe completing the successful launch of PS3 worldwide, Mr. Kutaragi has identified SCE's Annual Shareholders' meeting in June as the ideal timing to pass on the torch to the new generation of management. Mr. Kutaragi will now apply his extensive technological knowledge and leadership skills to take on new challenges beyond the world of PlayStation. Sony and SCE will continue to seek Mr. Kutaragi's input and ideas from a broad perspective, while continuing to support him as much as possible in the realization of his dreams."
Kutaragi's greatest imprint on SCEI was the invention of both the PlayStation console in 1994 and the PlayStation 2 in 2000. According to sales data from Sony, the two platforms have a combined installed base of more than 200 million units worldwide.
