Kazuo Hirai is being criticized by a former Sony Corp. director who says the company's chief executive officer is abandoning its traditional engineering focus.
Sony's electronics business is central to its long-term success, Tamotsu Iba, 79, a former chief financial officer and vice chairman, wrote in a letter sent to management on Monday. Iba, who also sent two other missives earlier this year, wants Sony executives to address his questions about executive compensation and Hirai's leadership during a June 23 shareholder meeting.
Iba says Hirai's strategy runs counter to Sony's "Founding Prospectus," handwritten by cofounder Masaru Ibuka in 1946. The document describes "a stable workplace where engineers could work to their hearts' content in full consciousness of their joy in technology."