Sony Stock Up Slightly After News of Howard Stringer Retirement

Sony Corporation stock was up slightly on Monday morning after news sunk in that the struggling technology company's chairman, Howard Stringer, will retire this June.

Shares of Sony were trading at $15.77, up 1.15 percent, as of 11:10 a.m. Sony's share price has been battered as losses have piled up. The company, which revolutionized the music industry with the Walkman, has spent over a decade trying and failing to come up with the next big thing in electronics.

It currently manufactures PlayStation game consoles, as well as tablets, Blu-ray players and televisions. It also owns Sony Pictures, which produces the Spider-Man and Men in Black movies.

Stringer stepped down as the company's chief executive officer last year and was replaced by Kazuo Hirai, the former head of its consumer products business. In a speech to the Japan Society on Friday, Stringer cited Hirai's strong leadership as the reason for his departure, according to the Associated Press.

"I was pleased to hand the reins to Kazuo Hirai last year because I saw in him the right mix of skills to lead Sony, and I knew it was the right time to bring about generational change," Mr. Stringer said. "Over the course of the past year, he has come into his own and is leading Sony with vision and authority."

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