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executive leadership

Sony and PlayStation Leadership Explained: Who Runs Sony Group, Sony Corporation and SIE in 2026?

Sony Group, Sony Corporation and PlayStation’s Sony Interactive Entertainment are separate entities. Here is who leads each one, why the changes happened and what they do not mean for PlayStation strategy.

By VGSources Team 4 min read
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Short answer: “Sony Corp. and PlayStation have new leadership” combines several separate changes. Hiroki Totoki leads Sony Group Corporation, Kenji Tanaka leads the separate Sony Corporation operating company, and Hideaki Nishino is president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), the company behind PlayStation. Hermen Hulst remains CEO of SIE’s Studio Business Group rather than serving as SIE’s overall chief executive.

Three different companies are being called “Sony”

The headline is difficult to parse because Sony’s corporate group, an operating company and the PlayStation business have different legal identities.

  • Sony Group Corporation is the parent company overseeing games, music, pictures, electronics, imaging and sensors.
  • Sony Corporation is a separate Sony Group operating company focused on the Entertainment, Technology & Services business.
  • Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is the Sony company behind the PlayStation brand and its Game & Network Services business.

The former Sony Corporation changed its name to Sony Group Corporation on April 1, 2021. The current Sony Corporation is a separate operating company created within that group structure, not simply the old company under its previous name. Sony describes the corporate arrangement at its corporate-information page.

Who runs each Sony business now?

Entity or role Leader Effective date or status
Sony Group Corporation, president and CEO Hiroki Totoki April 1, 2025
Sony Group Corporation, executive chairman Kenichiro Yoshida Current as of July 1, 2026
Sony Group Corporation, CFO Lin Tao Current as of July 1, 2026
Sony Corporation, representative director, president and CEO Kenji Tanaka April 1, 2026
Sony Interactive Entertainment, president and CEO Hideaki Nishino April 1, 2025
SIE Studio Business Group, CEO Hermen Hulst Current as of July 1, 2026

Sony’s official executive listing confirms the structure as of July 1, 2026.

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Hiroki Totoki leads Sony Group

Hiroki Totoki became president and CEO of Sony Group Corporation on April 1, 2025, succeeding Kenichiro Yoshida in the top operating role. Yoshida remains executive chairman. Lin Tao is the group’s chief financial officer.

Before taking the group CEO job, Totoki served as Sony’s president, COO and CFO. He also chaired SIE during the transition after Jim Ryan’s departure. Sony announced the succession in its January 2025 release.

Hideaki Nishino is the overall PlayStation-company CEO

PlayStation is a consumer brand; its operating company is Sony Interactive Entertainment. Hideaki Nishino became SIE’s president and CEO on April 1, 2025, with responsibility for the company’s Game & Network Services business.

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Nishino previously ran SIE’s Platform Business Group. His appointment made him the single chief executive of SIE, replacing the temporary arrangement in which platform and studio responsibilities were split between two business-group leaders. The current structure is set out in SIE’s 2025 announcement.

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What Hermen Hulst does now

Hermen Hulst is CEO of SIE’s Studio Business Group. He oversees the studio side of PlayStation, including the first-party development organization and related creative initiatives, and reports to Nishino under the current structure.

Calling Hulst a current “PlayStation co-CEO” is inaccurate. That description reflected the structure announced in 2024, when Nishino led the Platform Business Group and Hulst led the Studio Business Group. SIE documented that arrangement in its June 2024 release; the 2025 announcement established Nishino as SIE president and CEO.

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Why PlayStation’s leadership changed

The current arrangement developed through a succession process following Jim Ryan’s retirement, not through one sudden 2026 reshuffle.

  1. September 2023: SIE announced Ryan’s retirement and a transition plan. Totoki took an interim SIE leadership role during the handover, as described in the company’s announcement.
  2. April 1, 2024: Totoki assumed the interim SIE CEO role.
  3. June 1, 2024: Nishino and Hulst began leading the Platform and Studio Business Groups under the divided structure.
  4. January 2025: Sony announced the next SIE leadership arrangement.
  5. April 1, 2025: Totoki became Sony Group CEO and Nishino became SIE president and CEO, while Hulst continued to lead studios.

Kenji Tanaka’s 2026 appointment is a separate Sony change

Kenji Tanaka became representative director, president and CEO of Sony Corporation on April 1, 2026. Sony Corporation’s remit is the Entertainment, Technology & Services business. This is distinct from Totoki’s role at the parent Sony Group and Nishino’s role at SIE.

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The appointment is detailed in Sony Corporation’s February 2026 release. Therefore, “Sony changed its CEO in 2026” is only precise if it means Sony Corporation; Sony Group and SIE made their principal CEO changes effective in 2025.

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What the appointments do—and do not—tell PlayStation users

The structure gives SIE one overall CEO, with the studio organization remaining under Hulst. Sony’s 2025 announcement describes the arrangement as an evolution intended to maximize synergies across SIE.

It does not, by itself, announce a new console, pricing policy, exclusivity rule, PC-release policy, live-service investment plan, acquisition strategy or PlayStation Plus change. Those would require separate announcements or business disclosures. Any claim that the appointments prove a reversal or major shift in those areas is interpretation, not an established consequence of the leadership changes.

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Timeline of the leadership changes

Date Event
September 2023 Jim Ryan’s retirement and SIE transition plan announced.
April 1, 2024 Hiroki Totoki assumed interim SIE leadership.
June 1, 2024 Hideaki Nishino and Hermen Hulst began leading SIE’s Platform and Studio Business Groups.
January 2025 Sony announced the next SIE leadership structure.
April 1, 2025 Totoki became Sony Group president and CEO; Nishino became SIE president and CEO.
April 1, 2026 Kenji Tanaka became Sony Corporation president and CEO.
July 1, 2026 Sony’s executive listing confirmed the current leadership structure.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Kenji Tanaka the CEO of all Sony?

No. Tanaka leads Sony Corporation, an operating company. Hiroki Totoki is CEO of the parent Sony Group Corporation.

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Is Hideaki Nishino the CEO of PlayStation?

He is president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, the company behind the PlayStation business.

Is Hermen Hulst still a PlayStation CEO?

Hulst leads SIE’s Studio Business Group. He is not the overall SIE president and CEO under the structure effective April 1, 2025.

Did Hiroki Totoki replace Jim Ryan?

Totoki handled interim SIE leadership during the transition after Ryan’s retirement, then became Sony Group CEO. Nishino became SIE’s permanent president and CEO.

Are Sony Group and Sony Corporation the same company?

No. Sony Group Corporation is the parent; Sony Corporation is a separate group operating company.

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Did these changes announce a new PlayStation console or game strategy?

No. The appointments establish leadership and reporting lines but do not by themselves announce product, pricing, release or platform-policy changes.

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