Sony Pictures names TV head Ahuja CEO as Vinciquerra steps down

RAVI Ahuja will replace Tony Vinciquerra as the chief executive officer of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), the Hollywood arm of Tokyo-based Sony Group, in January.

Sony’s current chairman of global television and the chief operating officer of Sony Pictures, Ahuja will report to Sony Group chairman Kenichiro Yoshida and Hiroki Totoki, the company’s chief operating and financial officer, Sony said in a statement on Monday (Sep 30).

“Since joining SPE in 2021, Ravi has been at the centre of Tony’s leadership team, navigating the unprecedented challenges of today’s media and entertainment environment and positioning SPE for further growth,” Yoshida said in the statement.

Ahuja came to Sony after a career in television management at the Fox networks and Walt Disney. At Sony, he’s overseen the production of award-winning series including The Crown, The Boys, Gen V, Better Call Saul and The Last of Us.

Vinciquerra has been at Sony Pictures since June 2017 and led the company through five consecutive years of increasing profit by strengthening Sony’s film slate, according to the statement.

During his tenure, Vinciquerra led the acquisition of anime studio Crunchyroll in 2021 and forged a streaming distribution deal with Netflix rather than follow rivals in building a proprietary online video platform – initiatives that have lost Warner Bros Discovery, Paramount Global and Disney tens of billions of dollars in recent years. BLOOMBERG