There’s a changing of the guard at Sony Pictures Entertainment, with chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra set to step down, and Ravi Ahuja set to become president and CEO beginning in 2025.
Ahuja was elevated to president and COO earlier this year, a move meant to position him as a successor to Vinciquerra and give him experience across the company. Vinciquerra will remain with SPE as non-executive chairman through 2025.
“It wasn’t so much of a decision, but a process, because we started this two and a half years ago when I signed my last agreement was that this would be the target, that we would get Ravi ready for the job and promote him in March, and then hand it over at the end of the year,” Vinciquerra says.
“The decision on my part at that point was that I had planned on doing this for a short period of time to help turn the company around, to fix it from where it was to the stable, solid place it is.”
The veteran Hollywood executive joined SPE in 2017 in the aftermath of the devastating Sony hack, helping to turn the company’s balance sheet and strategic focus around.
Along the way he led SPE through the COVID-19 pandemic, last year’s Hollywood strikes and the larger shift toward streaming video.
SPE, notably, opted not to launch its own broad-based streaming service, it has some niche offerings like the anime-focused Crunchyroll, preferring to sell its films and TV series to the streaming and TV giants.
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It was a move that, in hindsight, seems like a good one, with companies like Paramount+, Warner Bros.
Discovery and NBCUniversal all pouring billions of dollars into their own streaming services, with limited returns as of yet.
“If you run your business with common sense and focus on the important parts of what drive the business, you can be really successful.
And also you need to not get caught up in in trends, and focus on what your strengths are, and go forward with them,” Vinciquerra says of his tenure. “I think we’ve done that and put us in a pretty good place, and I think it’s going to really pay off for the future.
I also think that the next couple of years are going to be rather difficult for the business, because all these companies have to go through the transition, whether it’s mergers, consolidation, sales, buy, bankrupt, whatever.
But at the end of that, the one thing we really know for sure is that the demand for content is not going down,” he adds. “The demand for people to be entertained is not going away. If anything, it’s becoming even more important to people’s lives. The companies that are left and are financially stable at that point, including this one, will be very successful and have a long future ahead of them.”
Ahuja, meanwhile, joined SPE in 2021 to oversee the production businesses for Sony Pictures Television, as well as SPE’s India businesses.
He also oversaw SPE’s M&A activity, including the acquisitions of Industrial Media, leading U.K. production company Bad Wolf and VFX company Pixomondo, as well as the sale of GSN Games to Scopely.
He also forged closer ties between SPE and Sony’s PlayStation gaming division with the creation of PlayStation Productions, and spearheaded thus year’s acquisition of Alamo Drafthouse.
Before joining SPE, Ahuja was president of business operations and CFO of Walt Disney Television.
Ahuja will report to Sony Group Corporation chairman and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida and Sony Group Corporation president, COO and CFO Hiroki Totoki.
Sony Pictures Entertainment includes the Sony Pictures film and TV studios, as well as brands like Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, TriStar Pictures and Crunchyroll. Among the franchises in its portfolio are Men in Black,Ghostbusters,Karate Kid and Jumanji.SPE also has the rights to producer Spider-Man films and TV series from Marvel.
“The extraordinary turnaround at SPE over the last 10 years would not have been possible without Tony’s deep experience and expertise in the entertainment space, his strategic vision and his outstanding leadership,” said Yoshida in a statement. “Under Tony’s watch, SPE became a critically important part of our efforts to maximize the value of our IP and find synergies across all our entertainment and technology businesses, and it remains a key driver in Sony Group’s ongoing corporate strategies to lean further into the creative and entertainment spaces. I want to thank Tony for his years of dedication and leadership at SPE, and for his invaluable support across the group companies during his successful career at Sony.
“Since joining SPE in 2021, Ravi has been at the center of Tony’s leadership team, navigating the unprecedented challenges of today’s media and entertainment environment and positioning SPE for further growth,” he continued. “Ravi brings with him years of experience from his time at some of the world’s most successful entertainment companies, and we look forward to working more closely with him in his new role as President and CEO of SPE.”
“When I stepped into this role seven and a half years ago, I would’ve never imagined the extraordinary industry disruption and opportunity we’d face,” added Vinciquerra. “
“I’m filled with immense gratitude for this exceptional company and its profound legacy in Hollywood history.
I’m consistently inspired by my brilliant and resolute colleagues. Together, against the odds, we achieved remarkable success and have consistently proven that this is a community built on passion and resilience.
Thank you for making these past seven and half years the most gratifying of my career.
My sincere appreciation goes to Kazuo Hirai for offering me this opportunity in 2017, and to Kenichiro Yoshida and Hiroki Totoki for their leadership and unwavering trust and support over the years. I have the utmost confidence that SPE will continue to thrive in the years ahead and know that Ravi is the right leader to take SPE forward.”
“It is my privilege and honor to take the helm at SPE,” said Ahuja. “This is a special place an iconic studio with an extraordinary 100-year history of storytelling. Thanks to Tony’s remarkable leadership, we have leading businesses with clear strategies and are set up for even greater success in the years to come. I am energised by the opportunities ahead and am lucky to work alongside thousands of talented colleagues around the world at SPE and at our Sony sister companies. I am grateful for Tony’s mentorship, guidance and friendship through the decades, and I thank Yoshida-san and Totoki-san for entrusting me with this important role.”
Erizia Rubyjeana
