| Sir Howard Stringer
Sir Howard Stringer (born February 19, 1942) is a British businessman and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sony Corporation. Previously he was chief executive of Sony Corporation of America before being promoted to the highest post.
Born in Cardiff, Wales, and educated at Oundle School and Merton College, Oxford University where he was awarded a BA in modern history and an MA, Stringer moved to the U.S. in 1965 to work for CBS. He was drafted after six weeks in the US to serve in Vietnam, earning the U.S. Army Commendation Medal for meritorious achievement. Stringer worked as a journalist, producer and senior executive for 30 years for CBS, including as President from 1988 to 1995.
He became Chairman and CEO of TELE-TV, a media and technology company formed by Bell Atlantic, NYNEX and Pacific Telesis in February 1995, and joined Sony in April 1997, becoming Chairman and CEO of Sony Corporation of America in 1998. He continues to head the American subsidiary after being promoted to CEO of the parent company in mid-2005. As of November 2006, Sony's stock has underperformed the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq, as well as competitors Matsushita and Phillips, though it has outperformed Microsoft, which is a recent entrant into the consumer electronics market. Stringer's performance has been called into question based on stock performance as well as numerous missteps by Sony in relation to digital copy-prevention, Sony's gaming division, and faulty laptop batteries.
Sir Howard is notable for being the first foreign-born CEO of a major Japanese electronics corporation. At the time of his appointment, Sony was facing steep competition from rivals such as Matsushita and Samsung, and challenges in converging its media production with its traditional electronics business. He is credited with pushing Digital Rights Management (DRM) initiatives onto their computer and electronics products. It is widely believed that he will focus on restructuring the company while allowing the presidents of each division to manage their divisions autonomously.
He became a US citizen in 1985, but also maintains a British residence and British citizenship.
He was awarded a knighthood in the New Year Honours list released in December 1999.
His brother, Rob Stringer, heads up Sony Music Label Group in the U.S.
He is married with two children.
In his role as CBS President, he was portrayed by the actor Peter Jurasik in the telefilm The Late Shift, about the contention between David Letterman and Jay Leno to succeed Johnny Carson.
Appeared on Conversations with Michael Eisner on CNBC in 2006.
On March 5, 2007, the Wall Street Journal revealed an interview that states Ken Kutaragi was a "renegade" and someone who was notorious for not communicating with his boss, Stringer. Further blaming Kutaragi for the losses Sony has had for the recent underperformance of their flagship product, the PlayStation 3. |
