Selection of Board Member Candidates

Tokyo, Japan – At Sony Group Corporation’s recent Nominating Committee meeting held earlier today, the following candidates were nominated as Members of Sony Group Corporation’s Board of Directors for 2023. The nominees are subject to the approval at the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders, to be held in June 2023.

 

<Members of the Board>

The candidates for Members of the Board are as follows:

 

Kenichiro Yoshida --- Chairman and CEO             

Representative Corporate Executive Officer

 

Hiroki Totoki --- President, COO and CFO             

Representative Corporate Executive Officer

 

Yoshihiko Hatanaka *1  --- Former Representative Director, Chairman of the Board, Astellas Pharma Inc.

 

Toshiko Oka *1 --- Professor, Professional Graduate School, Graduate School of Global Business, Meiji University

 

Sakie Akiyama *1  --- Founder, Saki Corporation

           

Wendy Becker *1  --- Chairperson of the Board, Logitech International S.A.                 

Non-Executive Director, Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc

                   

Keiko Kishigami *1 --- Certified Public Accountant in Japan                

Board Member, WWF Japan

 

Joseph A. Kraft Jr. *1 --- CEO, Rorschach Advisory Inc.

 

Neil Hunt *1*2 --- Chief Product Officer, Vibrant Planet, PBC              

Former Chief Product Officer, Netflix

 

William Morrow *1*2 --- CEO, DIRECTV, LLC

         

*1 An Outside Director who satisfies the requirements under Item 15, Article 2 of the Companies Act of Japan

*2 A new candidate for Member of the Board

 

<Member of the Board scheduled to retire>             

Shuzo Sumi --- Senior Executive Advisor, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd.

 

Tim Schaaff --- Former Chief Product Officer, Intertrust Technologies Corporation

 

＜Chairman of the Board*3＞

Chairman of the Board: Yoshihiko Hatanaka

 

＜Chair and Members of the Committees*3＞

Nominating Committee 

Chair: Yoshihiko Hatanaka

Members: Wendy Becker, Toshiko Oka

 

Compensation Committee 

Chair: Wendy Becker

Members: Sakie Akiyama, William Morrow

 

Audit Committee                 

Chair: Toshiko Oka

Members: Keiko Kishigami, Joseph A. Kraft Jr.

 

Information Security            

Joseph A. Kraft Jr., Neil Hunt

 

*3 To be officially appointed at the Board of Directors meeting to be held following the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders, scheduled for June 2023.

 

〇Comment from Kenichiro Yoshida:

“Shuzo Sumi was appointed to Sony’s Board of Directors in June 2017, and fulfilled the roles of Chairman of the Board and Chair of the Nominating Committee for four years since June 2019. I extend my deepest gratitude to Mr. Sumi for his dedication as Chairman to enhancing the effectiveness of the Board and Nominating Committee through his constant oversight of the Sony Group’s management from a global and high-level perspective. Tim Schaaff has also served with distinction on Sony’s Board for 10 years since June 2013, and since 2017 has contributed to enhancing governance in the information security area. Following the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders in June, under the oversight of the new Board of Directors, joined by William Morrow and Neil Hunt, and chaired by Yoshihiko Hatanaka, we will continue to work to create value from a long-term perspective for the further evolution and growth of the Sony Group.”

 

〇Comment from Shuzo Sumi:

“For the past four years, I have had the honor of serving as Chairman of the Board of Sony Group. I am very pleased that we were able to deepen our discussions and considerations towards enhancing Sony’s corporate value, based on a healthy level of tension in the relationship between the Board and the management team. Sony is engaged in diverse businesses globally, and amidst a rapidly changing business environment, it was a pleasure be involved in our united effort to steadily move Sony forward around the leadership of Kenichiro Yoshida and Hiroki Totoki, under Sony’s Purpose to “fill the world with emotion.”

 

〇Comment from Yoshihiko Hatanaka:

“I am very honored to succeed Shuzo Sumi, and to be nominated as Chairman of the Board of Sony Group. Although Mr. Sumi and Tim Schaaff will be stepping away, I am encouraged that the Sony Group Board of Directors, including its new members William Morrow and Neil Hunt, will be comprised of members with even more diversity, and exceptional backgrounds. In cooperation with the other Board members, I intend to further strengthen the effectiveness of the Board, and contribute to sustainably enhancing the Sony Group’s corporate value together with the management team.”

 

Access full press release

https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/News/Press/202303/23-010E/