International. In keeping with the tradition among Sony executives, whereby every retiring CEO becomes chairman of the board, Howard Stringer has taken over his board since last year, but starting in June, at age 71, he will retire completely from the company.
In this way, 15 years of Howard Stringer's work at Sony end, a company he arrived at after three decades of mandate in the North American network CBS. Seven of these years he was at Sony were dedicated to being its CEO, being the first foreigner to assume that position.
As referenced by local media in Japan after the news broke, Howard Stringer's management at Sony was framed by the search for restructuring the business and reducing costs, in order to face other competing manufacturers and the difficult times of the economy in recent years.
The retreat was announced by Howard Stringer himself during a speech to the Japanese Society of New York. "A new world is opening up for me after completing my retirement plan at Sony, which I hope to fulfill at the end of my term at the end of this year. This will allow me to move forward with new opportunities like the ones I have experienced so far," he said at the time.
