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KEN KUTARAGI OFFICIALLY STEPS DOWN AT SONY

As reported in a previous article, yesterday was Ken “Father of the PlayStation” Kutaragi’s last day as CEO and Chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment. While Kutaragi will be staying on as a “special advisor” to the company, the responsibility for SCE’s performance now fully falls to Kutaragi’s successor Kaz Hirai.

Good luck Kaz, you’re going to need it.

June 20, 2007 Posted by | Corporate Shuffle, Ken Kutaragi, Retirement, Sony | Leave a comment

SONY’S KEN KUTARAGI RETIRES

Ken Kutaragi, the man known as “The Father of the PlayStation” has announced that he will be stepping down as CEO and Chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment on June 19th and retiring. As you may remember, Sony performed some corporate shuffling a few months back in which Kutaragi was moved away from the day to day operations of the PlayStation division, a move many suspected was due to the poor retail performance of the PlayStation 3. Today’s announcement begs the question of whether Kutaragi was forced out of the company, grew discontented with his new role at Sony or, as the official press release states, actually plans on pursuing other interests besides the PlayStation brand. Officially, Kutaragi will continue working with Sony as both honorary chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment International and as a special advisor to the company.

Kaz Hirai, Sony’s current President and COO of Sony Computer Entertainment, has been appointed as Kutaragi’s successor. Whether this move indicates that Sony needs Hirai to move the division further towards profitability as he’s considered more of a businessman and less of a visionary – unlike Kutaragi, or if Hirai is also slowly being moved towards the door as well, is anyone’s guess. Check out the below links for more on this story.

April 27, 2007 Posted by | Corporate Shuffle, Ken Kutaragi, Retirement, Sony | 1 Comment