Former CEO stays on as senior advisor after retiring on June 18

Sony director and chairman Kazuo "Kaz" Hirai announced on Thursday that he will retire as chairman on June 18. Sony noted that Hirai will "continue to provide counsel as requested by Sony 's management team" as senior advisor.

Hirai provided a message for the announcement:

Since passing the baton of CEO to Yoshida-san last April, as Chairman of Sony , I have had the opportunity to both ensure a smooth transition and provide support to Sony 's management. I am confident that everyone at Sony is fully aligned under Yoshida-san's strong leadership, and are ready to build an even brighter future for Sony . As such, I have decided to depart from Sony , which has been a part of my life for the past 35 years. I would like to extend my warmest gratitude to all our employees and stakeholders who have supported me throughout this journey.

Hirai stepped down as president and CEO of Sony on April 1, 2018. Kenichirō Yoshida added the two positions to his role as director and representative corporate executive officer, and stepped down from his positions of executive deputy president and chief financial officer.

Hirai joined Sony Music Entertainment Japan in 1984, and then joined Sony Computer Entertainment America before the North American launch of the PlayStation console in 1995. He replaced Ken Kutaragi to become the head of the gaming company in 2006. Hirai became president and group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment International in 2007. Hirai then became president of Sony in 2012 and gave up his Sony Computer Entertainment chairperson post later that year.

Sources: Sony, Variety (Brian Crecente)

Image via Wikimedia Commons (Masaru Kamikura)