■ Group Leaders Summit

Last week, we held a Group Leaders Summit based on the new Sony Group management structure established in June. The objective of this summit is to provide a forum for the leaders of Sony Group companies and the heads of key Group headquarters functions to engage in active discussions about the future of Sony.

(click to enlarge)

The summit was conducted virtually through Teams^*, as you can see in the photo above, connecting all of us across Japan, the US and Europe. Over the three-day summit, in addition to receiving status updates from the heads of each business, we discussed matters such as regional and partnership strategies for the overall Group; the collaboration between Funimation, Aniplex and PlayStation Network to expand Japanese anime content globally which I touched on in the Corporate Strategy Meeting; and Group-level data strategies. Masashi Oka, who was appointed CEO of Sony Financial Holdings on June 23rd, also participated in the summit as a newly-appointed member of the Group leadership team.

As part of the Group Leaders Summit, we also held a mid-range planning (MRP) kick-off meeting for our three entertainment segments - G&NS, Music and Pictures. As we approach the MRP review meeting this November, I underlined the importance of focusing on new business opportunities, despite us being in the midst of a VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) era, to which I received the full support and agreement from the leaders of our entertainment businesses, who plan to take on this challenge with courage and conviction.

* A composite image of the Teams UI (i.e. not the actual Teams UI)

■ Establishing Sony Group Corporation

We have already started various efforts to strengthen Group management, and plan to establish Sony Group Corporation as a corporate entity in April next year. Furthermore, in conjunction with the change in company name of our Group headquarters, which was approved at the General Meeting of Shareholders last month, the current Sony Electronics Inc. will succeed the company name Sony Corporation next April. The position of the "SONY" brand as the Sony Group's most important asset will not change. Therefore, let's continue to do our best to enhance the value of our brand across the entire Group.

■ Execution and Oversight

Another important matter that was approved at the Shareholders' Meeting was the appointment of the Directors who will oversee Sony's executive management who are made up of the Sony Group leadership team. This year, three Directors were newly appointed to our Board.

Adam Crozier	Keiko Kishigami	Joseph Kraft Jr.

These new Directors will bring the outstanding expertise they possess in each of their respective fields to their oversight of our Group executive management: Adam Crozier has extensive insight into the management of global corporations, including within the media and entertainment industries; Keiko Kishigami is a certified public accountant of international standing who is knowledgeable about ESG; and Joseph Kraft Jr. has a wealth of experience in global finance and capital markets. The new Sony Board of Directors has a total of twelve members, and the ten members other than myself and CFO Totoki are all non-executive Directors. Four of the Directors are women, and four are non-Japanese nationals from the US and Europe.

Sony became the first Japanese company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on September 17th, 1970, and this led to us appointing outside Directors at a very early stage for a Japanese company. This year marks the 50th anniversary of our NYSE listing, and looking over this long stretch of time, it is clear that Sony has evolved not only in terms of executive structure, but also in terms of our governance structure as well. This 50th anniversary is a major milestone that we have reached with the support of our many stakeholders, and we plan to issue a message of gratitude to communicate this in September.

For the evolution of the Sony Group, it is essential that we focus on value creation and business opportunities from a long-term perspective, and to do that, I believe we must also constantly evolve and update our framework for execution and oversight.

Lastly, starting this month, you will be able to share your thoughts on my blog through a survey available here. As always, I look forward to receiving your feedback.