Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki to become group president

Tokyo, Feb 2 (EFE).- Sony’s Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki is set to become the group’s president and chief operating officer from April 1, the Japanese corporation announced Thursday.

Totoki, who also holds the position of executive deputy president at present, will replace Kenichiro Yoshida as president.

Yoshida will remain the chief executive officer of the group, according to the restructuring which the multinational corporation announced a few hours before releasing its quarterly results for October-December.

Totoki’s promotion is aimed at strengthening Sony’s management structure, with him and Yoshida becoming the most powerful figures at a time when the tech industry is facing an increasingly competitive market and a possible global recession, even as the company tries to expand its business to new spheres like electric vehicles.

The company has convened a press conference over the management reshuffle at 4 pm on Thursday.

The change of presidency, which coincides with Japan’s fiscal new year starting in April, will be the first in five years, after Yoshida replaced Kazuo Hirai in 2018.

Totoki, a graduate from Waseda Business School, joined Sony in 1987, where he has since carried out different financial roles. For instance, he played a key role in the establishment of Sony Bank in 2001 and also managed the group’s mobile phone business.

The 58-year-old became Sony’s Executive Deputy President in 2016 and CFO two years later, with Yoshida’s arrival.

Yoshida, 63, joined Sony in 1983, working mostly in the finance department.

He also worked across Sony’s subsidiaries in the United States and Japan, among them So-net, which he headed from 2005 until returning to the headquarter in 2013 as deputy CFO.

A year later he would be made CFO with Kazuo Hirai, who he was very close with, being appointed president. EFE

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