New Sony Chief's To-Do List: Fix Film, Find A Buyer?

Tony Vinciquerra’s appointment as CEO adds to industry speculation that the studio’s Japanese owner is eyeing a sale of its movie and TV operations.

- Gregg Kilday

Three big questions face Sony Pictures Entertainment following the May 11 appointment of Tony Vinciquerra as its chairman and CEO: Will the longtime Rupert Murdoch associate and Fox TV executive slash personnel and expenses? Will he cut loose former Fox colleague Tom Rothman, the polarizing head of Sony’s struggling movie division? And, perhaps the biggest: Is his job ultimately to prepare the studio for a sale?

Sony Corp. CEO Kazuo Hirai might have hoped to put an end to such questions by naming Vinciquerra, 62, to replace Michael Lynton when the latter departs June 1. (Vinciquerra will oversee film and TV but not Lynton’s music portfolio, which is now Rob Stringer’s domain.) Instead, questions are likely to heat up, especially given the whopping $962 million write-down Sony took on the studio at the end of 2016.