Toshiba CEO Satoshi Tsunakawa takes over down like the beleaguered Japanese technology giant seeks to restructure and restore son reputation.
Tsunakawa will be replaced by Taro Shimada, Senior Executive and Director senior vice-president, under the direction of one decision made at Toshiba board meeting on Tuesday, the Tokyo-based company said.
Shimada was an executive at Siemens, both in Japan and the United States, before joining Toshiba Corp. in 2018 work in son digital operations.
He does face to the challenge of leading a restructuring plan drawn shareholder criticism. In February, Toshiba said so plans split into two companies, one concentrated on infrastructure and other on devices.
Shimada said he was proud in being the first CEO with a background in digital technology and hope it will be a plus for Toshiba’s energy business.
“I’ve been to Toshiba for only three years old, but I love Toshiba,” he said.
Whenon asks him about how He was hoping win over critical shareholders, Shimada says he learned by working in the United States on the importance of communicate as equals, referring to the expression “put yourself in someone else’s shoes.
The restructuring proposal is still subject to shareholder approval and regulatory approval. An extraordinary general meeting is set for On March 24, when the plan will be updated vote. Toshiba officials told reporters that the change in direction had to happen before that, although it was unclear. how it should help win over shareholders.
Toshiba dropped its previous proposal for one three-way split, which was not popular with shareholders, including foreign funds.
Approval for Tuesday personnel changes including a resignation of another one board member, and the appointment of two others will be sought in a meeting of shareholders in June, Toshiba said.
Toshiba was one of Japan’s most revered brands, but has been struggling since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011. A tsunami sent three reactors melting, spewing radiation over a area it is still partly a forbidden zone. Toshiba is involved in the dismantling effort, which will take decades.
Initial plans announced last year by the outrageous conglomerate to split into three had been heavily criticized by foreign hedge fund shareholders – many of that promote a sale to a private equity company. But a revised plan last month who called for a split into two companies and the sale of other companies also met with internal dissent, according to two familiar sources with the question.
There were fears within Toshiba that its planned sale of units such as son elevator business would only leave the company with low-margin companies, the sources said who were not allowed to speak to media and declined to identify.
Asked about internal opposition, Toshiba said he strongly believes that son announced reorganization plan is the best option for the company but declined for comment further away.
For some observers, the departure of Tsunakawa as well of Mamoru Hatazawa, a board member who pushed to separate up the company, add doubts about Toshiba’s ability to move forward with the plans to break up.
“The shared plan will be reviewed – we believe there is a chance it’s scrapped,” said Justin Tang, head of Asian research at Investment Advisor United First Partners in Singapore.
Of the society reputation has been also tarnished by an accounting scandal, involving doctored books for years.
In 2021, Nobuaki Kurumatani resigned from son President of Toshiba and Tsunakwa took bar. Kurumatani had directed global finance the Japanese operations of CVC Capital Partners and become CEO in 2018.
Tsunakawa said he accomplished son mission of delivery over the direction to the next generation and hoped that Toshiba shareholders, customers and employees would agree with the proposed restructuring plan. He didn’t say how the company had dealt with contestation.
“I am convinced that I was able to put over leadership towards Toshiba’s evolution towards future“, he told reporters in a online news conference.
He defended the decision name Toshiba peopleand not foreigners, to the posts of direction, emphasizing that the company must change from within. Maybe it’s Toshiba”last chance” for fix son reputation and mark power like a technology society and win back trust, he said.
the original Pause-up the plan was announced last November after a five-month strategy review following years of accounting scandals and governance issues that have shaken investor confidence and seen Toshiba market assess more more than half, to about $18 billion, from the peak in the early 2000s.
Based in 1875, Toshiba was a pioneer in manufacturing for all electric rice cooking stoves laptop computers. This also flash invented memory although that division has been sold off as his fortunes crumbled.
