Sony Pictures appoints Ravi Ahuja as new CEO; Tony Vinciquerra to step down

4 min read Last Updated: Oct 01 2024 | 3:45 PM IST

Japanese major Sony Group Corporation and Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) on Tuesday announced that Tony Vinciquerra, chairman and CEO, will step down from his role on January 2, 2025, and Ravi Ahuja, the current chairman of global television studios and president and COO , will succeed him.

According to a statement, Ahuja will report to Sony Group Corporation chairman and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida and Sony Group Corporation president, COO and CFO Hiroki Totoki.

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

Ahuja joined SPE to oversee all production businesses for Sony Pictures Television (SPT) and the studio’s India business as chairman of global television studios. The 53-year-old veteran media executive has also played a significant part in the expansion of several prominent entertainment companies, such as Walt Disney and Fox Networks. He has a background in finance, institutional investment, and an extensive career in the media and entertainment industry.

“It is my privilege and honor to take the helmet at SPE,” said Ahuja in a statement. “This is a special place—an iconic studio with an extraordinary 100-year history of storytelling. Thanks to Tony’s remarkable leadership, we have leading businesses with clear strategies and are set up for even greater success in the years to come.”

Ahuja joined SPE to oversee all production businesses for Sony Pictures Television (SPT) and the studio’s India business as chairman of global television studios. Before SPE, he worked as the president of business operations and CFO of Walt Disney Television from March 2019 to November 2020. He played a crucial role in merging Disney/ABC Television and Fox Networks following Disney’s acquisition of Fox.

From June 2016 to March 2019, Ahuja served as CFO of the Fox Networks Group, a unit of Twenty-First Century Fox; before this, he held various other positions at Fox. He looked after all its business units across Europe, Africa, Latin America, and Asia. He worked at Fox for nearly 12 years, during which time he also played a key role in overseeing the company’s Hulu joint venture for over a decade. He played a key role in investing in companies like Roku and Draft Kings, among many others. Apart from these, Ahuja led the acquisitions of National Geographic Partners, Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network, and Sports Time Ohio. Ahuja currently serves on the board of directors of Roku, Inc., which he joined in February 2013.

Before joining Fox in 2007, Ahuja served as CFO for Virgin Entertainment Group, Inc. Ahuja was also an associate at McKinsey & Co., a management consulting firm, from 1997 to 1999. He holds undergraduate and MBA degrees from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, according to his LinkedIn profile. He recently joined the Wharton undergraduate executive board.

Since joining SPE, Ahuja has also overseen SPE’s merger and acquisition activities, including the acquisitions of award-winning nonfiction entertainment company Industrial Media, leading UK production company Bad Wolf and VFX company Pixomondo, as well as the sale of GSN Games to Scopely.

SPT and its production companies produce several award-winning and acclaimed television series, including The Crown, Cobra Kai, Better Call Saul, The Last of Us, Outlander, The Good Doctor, Shark Tank, and American Idol, to name a few.

Vinciquerra, 70, who joined SPE in 2017, will remain in an advisory role for SPE as non-executive chairman until the end of December 2025, the company said in a statement.

During his tenure, Vinciquerra led the acquisition of anime studio Crunchyroll in 2021 and forged a streaming distribution deal with Netflix Inc. SPE has remained profitable due to its decision to divest most of its international cable networks as that market began to deteriorate and to avoid entering the overcrowded streaming space with a general entertainment streaming service.

First Published: Oct 01 2024 | 3:45 PM IST