Japanese multinational company Sony on Friday announced that its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Kenichiro Yoshida will take over as President and CEO from Kazuo Hirai, who will be the company's new chairman.The appointment of Yoshida, 58, will be effective from April 1 the company said, adding that Hirai himself had proposed Yoshida's name for the position and that the company will begin its next mid-range corporate plan under the leadership of Yoshida."I have dedicated myself to transforming the company and enhancing its profitability, and am very proud that now, in the third and final year of our current mid-range corporate plan, we are expecting to exceed our financial targets," Efe News quoted Hirai as saying.
Hirai, 57, took over as President of Sony in April 2012 and is credited with successfully restructuring the company."As the company approaches a crucial juncture, when we will embark on a new mid-range plan, I consider this to be the ideal time to pass the baton of leadership to a new management," he added.According to Hirai, the CFO possesses "leadership qualities required to manage Sony's diverse array of businesses, and as such is the ideal person to drive the company forward into the future."Yoshida "combines a deeply strategic mindset with a relentless determination to achieve defined targets, and the ability to take a global viewpoint," Hirai added.Yoshida, who is also the Executive Deputy President, promised to build on the business foundations established by Hirai and execute new measures to enhance the firm's global competitiveness.