Sony: CEO Jack Tretton Steps Down
Sony makes headlines today because Sony’s CEO Jack Tretton has announced he will be stepping down, and his last day will be on March 31st. Shawn Layden is the executive Vice President and COO of Sony Network Entertainment International, and he will be the one to take Tretton’s place starting April 1st. Layden was the top executive in the company’s international division. Sony’s response to to the press is: “This is a result of a mutual agreement between Mr. Tretton and SCEA not to renew their contractual relationship.” Jack Tretton has been with Sony since since 1995, and has been the CEO since 2006.
Jack Tretton has released this statement:
” Working at SCEA for the past 19 years has been the most rewarding experience of my career. Although I will deeply miss the talented team at SCEA and the passion demonstrated every day by our fans, I’m very excited about starting the next chapter of my career I want to thank the employees, partners, and customers for their tireless commitment to the PlayStation brand and,of course, to our fans who have pushed us to new heights of innovation and entertainment over the past two decades. I leave PlayStation in a position of considerable strength and future will only get brighter for PlayStation Nation.”
Tretton stepping down as CEO is quite unexpected to the media considering the fact that they have just released the PlayStation 4, but maybe Tretton has figured that’s a good note to end it on. Tretton has contributed much to Sony Entertainment. Tretton has played a major role in making PlayStation platforms best sellers in North America. Tretton has been involved in development of all the major platforms such as: PS One, PlayStation 2, PSP, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation Network, and more recently the PlayStation 4.
Shawn Layden joined Sony’s Corporate Communications Department in 1987 in Tokyo, and Layden was also an assistant to the Sony Founder, and Chairman, Akio Morita. Layden is one of the founding members of SNEI. When he joined the company, it was directly from Sony Computer Entertainment Japan, and that’s when he was president of Sony Computer Entertainment Japan. During his 14 year career with Sony he has worked at SCE’s London Studio, in which he was managing international software development.
Hopefully with all of Layden’s experience with Sony, he will add something new to the table, and start a new generation of Sony innovation.
