The chairman of Sony's board, Howard Stringer, will be retiring in June, according to the Financial Times. Stringer, who stepped back from his role as president in January of 2012 and then reduced his role to just chairman a month later, will be waiting until the next shareholder meeting to step down. Stringer became the CEO of Sony in 2005 and oversaw what can only be described as a turbulent ride in the company's history, as Apple and Samsung both surpassed the consumer electronics giant in several categories it had once dominated.

Last year, Stringer was replaced in his direct management roles by Kazuo Hirai as president and CEO, and Hirai has led an attempt at a resurgence under the "One Sony" initiative. Hirai praised Stringer's work at Sony in a statement today, saying he laid the "foundation" needed to move the company forward. “Howard’s achievements as CEO of Sony are innumerable," Hirai said, "from breaking down silos and driving ‘Sony United,’ to fundamentally realigning the focus of Sony’s product development.”

Stringer reportedly announced his upcoming departure in a lecture to the Japan Society in New York, saying he would be pursuing "new opportunities I've been presented with lately." Stringer joked “I can’t say I’ll miss the 14-hour flights 16 or so times a year." Bloomberg reports that Stringer is likely to "sit on boards in the health-care and education fields" after his retirement.