Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Tony Vinciquerra to Step Down, Ravi Ahuja to Succeed as President and CEO

Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra will step down from his role as SPE CEO in January, and Ravi Ahuja, SPE’s current Chairman of Global Television Studios and President and COO, will assume leadership of SPE as President and CEO. The change will take effect on Jan. 2, 2025, Sony Group Corporation and SPE announced on Monday.

Vinciquerra will remain in an advisory role for SPE as non-executive Chairman until the end of Dec. 2025. Ahuja will report to Sony Group Corporation Chairman and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida and Sony Group Corporation President, COO and CFO Hiroki Totoki.

“We are probably the most stable company in the business right now, given the strategies we chose many years ago,” Vinciquerra told TheWrap during an interview about his decision to step down, which comes at a time of relative calm at Sony as the company is not weighed down by a streaming service or linear networks. “We’re not in the businesses that are going to be challenged. We don’t have to restructure to meet that. We haven’t had massive layoffs.”

The outgoing CEO said that Ahuja, who was promoted to SPE president and COO earlier this year, is “smarter than I am” and “good with people,” adding that they’ve been getting him ready to take over for some time.

As for what’s next, Vinciquerra said he likes “fixing things, fixing companies,” pointing to his turnarounds of Fox and Sony. “I’ll take a little time off too,” he added.

“The extraordinary turnaround at SPE over the last 10 years would not have been possible without Tony’s deep experience and expertise in the entertainment space, his strategic vision and his outstanding leadership,” Yoshida said in a statement to TheWrap.. “Under Tony’s watch, SPE became a critically important part of our efforts to maximize the value of our IP and find synergies across all our entertainment and technology businesses, and it remains a key driver in Sony Group’s ongoing corporate strategies to lean further into the creative and entertainment spaces. I want to thank Tony for his years of dedication and leadership at SPE, and for his invaluable support across the group companies during his successful career at Sony.”

Ahuja steps into the role with a robust background in navigating the evolving television landscape, as he outlined at TheWrap’s The Grill conference in 2023.

“I think we are in the middle of a 20-year evolution from coaxial cable and satellite-delivered television to IP-delivered television,” Ahuja told TheWrap CEO Sharon Waxman last October. “I think we are a little past the middle. I think it evolves through this decade. By 2030 it is all streaming.”

Yoshida added: “Since joining SPE in 2021, Ravi has been at the center of Tony’s leadership team, navigating the unprecedented challenges of today’s media and entertainment environment and positioning SPE for further growth. Ravi brings with him years of experience from his time at some of the world’s most successful entertainment companies, and we look forward to working more closely with him in his new role as President and CEO of SPE.”

Alongside motion picture group chairman/CEO Tom Rothman, Vinciquerra — who joined Sony in June 2017 — oversaw a film strategy that doubled down on theatrical, eschewing the strategies of other studios to develop in-house streaming services and instead signing a streaming distribution deal with Netflix for its theatrical releases in 2021. He also oversaw the company’s acquisition of anime company Crunchyroll in 2021.

On the film side, Vinciquerra and Rothman also oversaw the launch of a new phase of “Spider-Man” films, the most successful being a trilogy produced by Marvel Studios as part of a landmark deal between Sony and Disney. Directed by Jon Watts and starring Tom Holland as Peter Parker, the “Spider-Man” films “Homecoming” in 2017, “Far From Home” in 2019, and “No Way Home” in 2021 grossed a combined $3.9 billion at the global box office, with “No Way Home” becoming the first major hit for theaters since the COVID-19 shutdown with $1.9 billion worldwide.

Beyond Marvel Studios, Sony revived franchises like the Dwayne Johnson/Jack Black-led “Jumanji” films and Jason Reitman’s “Ghostbusters” legacy-quels and expanded Spider-Man into animation with the critically acclaimed “Into the Spider-Verse” and “Across the Spider-Verse,” the former of which won an Academy Award.

Vinciquerra also oversaw the launch of Playstation Productions, a production arm designed to turn Sony’s top Playstation video game titles into film and TV adaptations like “Uncharted,” “Gran Turismo,” and the Emmy-winning TV series “The Last of Us.” Sony has also made a name for itself finding success by satisfying audience demand for films not provided by other studios, such as female-led dramas like “Where the Crawdads Sing” and “It Ends With Us” and an expansion into anime with the acquisition of Funimation in 2017 and Crunchyroll in 2021, with the two merging together in 2022.

“When I stepped into this role seven and a half years ago, I would’ve never imagined the extraordinary industry disruption and opportunity we’d face,” Vinciquerra said in a statement. “I’m filled with immense gratitude for this exceptional company and its profound legacy in Hollywood history. I’m consistently inspired by my brilliant and resolute colleagues. Together, against the odds, we achieved remarkable success and have consistently proven that this is a community built on passion and resilience. Thank you for making these past seven and half years the most gratifying of my career. My sincere appreciation goes to Kazuo Hirai for offering me this opportunity in 2017, and to Kenichiro Yoshida and Hiroki Totoki for their leadership and unwavering trust and support over the years. I have the utmost confidence that SPE will continue to thrive in the years ahead and know that Ravi is the right leader to take SPE forward.”

Ravi Ahuja joined SPE in 2021 to oversee all production businesses for Sony Pictures Television and the studio’s India business as Chairman of Global Television Studios. Ahuja has shaped SPT’s content strategy, focusing on the strengths of its independent studio while navigating the realities of today’s TV business.

Under his tenure, Sony has expanded its global production capabilities and more than doubled the number of shows it produces across scripted, unscripted, kids programs and game shows. Popular franchises under his reign have included “The Boys,” “Outlander” and “Cobra Kai.” It also established a Game Show production group, anchored by the “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy!” franchises, which scored landmark renewal deals from ABC’s Owned and Operated stations this past year, and has bolstered collaboration with PlayStation Productions through projects like HBO’s “The Last of Us” and Peacock’s “Twisted Metal” as well as the upcoming adaptations of “God of War” and “Horizon Zero Dawn.”

Additionally, Ahuja was instrumental in strategic acquisitions of Industrial Media, which is home to franchises including “American Idol,” “So You Think You Can Dance,” and “90 Day Fiancé,” the Oscar and Emmy Award-winning virtual production, visualization, and VFX company Pixomondo, and U.K. drama producer Bad Wolf. Ahuja also oversaw the sale of GSN Games to Scopely.

Prior to joining SPE, Ahuja was President of Business Operations and CFO of Walt Disney Television. Prior to that he was in positions of increasing authority, including CFO, at the Fox Networks Group, and Virgin Entertainment Group, Inc.

“It is my privilege and honor to take the helm at SPE,” Ahuja said. “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. I am energized by the opportunities ahead and am lucky to work alongside thousands of talented colleagues around the world at SPE and at our Sony sister companies. I am grateful for Tony’s mentorship, guidance and friendship through the decades, and I thank Yoshida-san and Totoki-san for entrusting me with this important role.”

Sharon Waxman and Lucas Manfredi contributed to this report.