Although it has been speculated for months now, going as far back as last year's PSN security breach, Kaz Hirai has been officially named President and CEO of Sony Corporation. Kaz Hirai will succeed Howard Stringer, who will remain the company's Executive Chairman until June, and thereafter will become Chairman of the Board.
Hirai, widely known for his embarrassing "Riiiidddgggeee Racer" comment at E3 2006, has been the front-runner for the position and is credited with bringing profits to the long-unprofitable PlayStation division.
Hirai took over the PlayStation branch from "The Father of PlayStation" Ken Kuturagi after the misteps of the PS3 launch, and has had much success bringing the console's price to a more affordable level, while integrating networked services like the PlayStation Network and Music Unlimited into a number of non-PlayStation devices.
Kaz will be tasked with further bringing Sony's various product lines together and intertwining them within these connected services, engaging users as customers long after their initial purchase—a strategy that Stringer first came up with but has mostly failed to execute.
[Source]
