Toshiba Corp chief executive officer Satoshi Tsunakawa is stepping down as the embattled Japanese technology giant seeks to restructure and restore its reputation.
Tsunakawa is to be replaced by Taro Shimada, an executive officer and corporate senior vice president, under a decision made at a Toshiba board meeting yesterday, the Tokyo-based company said.
Shimada was an executive at Siemens AG, in Japan and the US, before joining Toshiba in 2018, working in its digital operations.
He faces the challenge of leading a restructuring plan that has drawn criticism from shareholders.
Last month, Toshiba said it plans to split into two companies, one focused on infrastructure and the other on devices.
Shimada said he takes pride in being the first CEO with a background in digital technology and hopes that would be a plus for Toshiba’s energy business.
“I have been at Toshiba for only three years, but I love Toshiba,” he said.
When asked about how he hoped to win over critical shareholders, Shimada said he had learned while working in the US about the importance of communicating as equals, referring to the expression “put yourself in someone else’s shoes.”
The restructuring proposal is still subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. An extraordinary shareholders’ meeting is set for March 24, when the plan is to be put to a vote.
Toshiba officials told reporters that the management change was timed to happen before that, although it was unclear how that might help win over shareholders.
Approval for yesterday’s personnel changes, including a resignation of another board member, and the nomination of two others, is to be sought in a shareholders’ meeting in June, Toshiba said.
Last year, Nobuaki Kurumatani resigned as Toshiba president and Tsunakwa took the helm. Kurumatani had headed global fund CVC Capital Partners’ Japan operations and became CEO in 2018.
Tsunakawa said he had accomplished his mission of handing over the leadership to the next generation and hoped Toshiba’s shareholders, customers and employees would agree with the proposed restructuring plan.
He did not say how the company had dealt with dissent.
“I am confident I was able to hand over the leadership toward Toshiba’s evolution into the future,” he told reporters in an online news conference.
He defended the decision to appoint Toshiba people, not outsiders, to top positions, saying that the company needs to change from within.
This might be Toshiba’s “last chance” to fix its reputation and brand power as a technology company and win back trust, he said.
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