Sony Japan CEO replaced after 7 years: "Will overcome organizational barriers to create new value"

Hiroki Totoki Appointed as CEO of Sony Group

Japan's "content kingdom" Sony Group is set to replace its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the first time in seven years, with plans to pursue a growth strategy centered on entertainment.

President Hiroki Totoki, who took office as CEO of Sony Group starting this April. Photo by Yonhap News

On the 30th, Sony Group announced that Hiroki Totoki (60), the current President, will assume the CEO position starting in April. Kenichiro Yoshida, the current CEO, will step back to a supervisory role while retaining his position as Chairman.

President Totoki took office in April 2023, concurrently serving as Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Since his appointment, his growth strategy has focused on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and investments to accumulate intellectual property (IP) in games, animation, and other content. Recently, he acquired an additional approximately 50 billion yen (about 466.58 billion KRW) worth of shares in Kadokawa Corporation, becoming the largest shareholder with about a 10% stake. Kadokawa is a content company in Japan that owns subsidiaries in manga, animation, film, magazines, and games. It also owns FromSoftware, the developer of the globally acclaimed game "Elden Ring," and Japan's largest video platform, Nico Nico Douga.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun predicted that Sony Group, under the leadership of Totoki, who has expertise in the content business, will pursue a growth strategy focused on entertainment sectors such as games, movies, and music. Totoki stated, "Sony's DNA lies in the diversity of its businesses and personnel," adding, "We will organically connect diversity beyond organizational boundaries to create new value."

Totoki graduated from Waseda University's School of Commerce in 1987 and joined Sony (now Sony Group). He mainly worked in finance and led the establishment of Sony Bank in 2001. Later, he served as Vice President at So-net Entertainment (now Sony Network Communications), which was engaged in telecommunications, assisting then-President Yoshida. In 2013, he returned to Sony with Yoshida and led the smartphone business.

Sony Group has planned growth investments totaling 1.8 trillion yen (about 16.8 trillion KRW) from 2025 to 2027, combining M&A and share buybacks, focusing on expanding IP. Last spring, Sony Group proposed an acquisition of Paramount Global in the United States, but negotiations fell through during the process.