Reinventing the Millennium

Sony's financial report for fiscal year 2010 has caused certain doubts.

When WikiLeaks broke the news, when media attention was drawn to it, and when the matter was linked to the ongoing Olympus financial fraud, many reporters immediately rushed to Sony's New York headquarters, hoping to get a response from Sony. .

At the same time, many media and experts began to re-examine and dig out the details of Sony’s financial report last year to corroborate the revelations.

Stringer, the head of Sony, was in the middle of a conference call when the news came out. When he was interrupted by a secretary who rushed into the office, he heard the contents of WikiLeaks and knew that there were reporters downstairs who came after hearing the news. Zi panicked.

Something happened! Caught off guard! Oh my God!

Stringer interrupted the conference call, was stunned for a while, and called Mr. Fang Zhuo, an important external director of Sony.

Didn't work the first time.

When the call was about to hang up automatically for the second time, the call was connected.

"Hey, Sir, tell me, I'm busy." Fang Zhuo's voice was brief.

"I, Sony, this." Stringer's thoughts were a little confused. After taking two deep breaths, he said, "The reporter is squatting downstairs, asking us about Sony's financial report and losses!"

Fang Zhuo automatically drew a line: "What's wrong with your Sony financial report?"

Stringer didn't pay attention to the details, and his secretary's report echoed in his mind: "WikiLeaks said that our financial report last year was the same as Olympus's financial fraud."

Fang Zhuo asked calmly: "Did you fake it?"

"We, we..." Stringer stuttered automatically.

Fang Zhuo automatically gave the answer: "Last year's financial report was just flattened, so how can we talk about fraud? It was just the sale of some assets."

When Stringer heard it, he thought, oh yes, it was just whitewashing the financial report.

He pondered for a moment and then asked: "What about our losses..."

"Then you are really losing money." Fang Zhuo said helplessly, "Sir, do you think you can still do a good job in Sony's financial report this year?"

Stringer sighed upon hearing the question, which he already knew the answer to.

Fang Zhuo added: "If you haven't made any fraud, you won't be held legally responsible. Compared with Go Kukawa, at least you won't go in. Since the losses are so high that they can't be covered up, what's the point?"

Stringer looked gloomy and replied: "It really doesn't make sense anymore."

Fang Zhuo took a sip of tea. No, it still makes sense. Ask Sony to die.

The call was hung up silently.

Stringer sat in his office holding his cell phone. One moment he felt that it was already a torment and the day was over. The next moment he felt that the media cameras were very intimidating.

He was in a daze for a while, and his memory suddenly returned to a long time ago.

At that time, Mr. Fang came to Sony to discuss the acquisition of the Android company. The 15 million acquisition funds that Sony should provide were replaced by Sony Ericsson Mobile Phones to license the patent to Yike. Later, Sony's shares were sold for 65 million US dollars. , completed a 4.3-fold increase in a very short period of time, and became an amazing investment that everyone at Sony felt...

As the head of Sony who just took over, he also delivered a satisfactory financial report to the market in his first year...

That was probably 2006...

The sweetness of that financial report was too sweet, and then it was hundreds of millions of dollars, and then it was billions of dollars...

Stringer was in a daze. If it hadn't been for that bite, wouldn't he be as miserable as he is today?

No, the economy is sluggish, the yen is soaring, exports are declining, business is declining, the financial crisis...

Stringer rubbed his face, not wanting to attribute the cause to any one person.

But there is still a cloud of doubt in his mind. Do the so-called investigative documents of relevant US departments by WikiLeaks really exist? Are some of the details of the revelations...

Yes or no……

Stringer swallowed, not wanting to continue exploring and speculating on meaningless things.

Things are different now, and the most important thing is that Sony's situation is indeed irreversible.

On the first day of October, Stringer did not go downstairs after all. In the end, Sony reluctantly dismissed the media by saying that Sony would hold a press conference.

Stringer still didn't want to face the camera in a hurry.

However, he didn't want to face it so soon and thought of a more decent way, but Tokyo couldn't sit still.

Only on the second day of October, sources close to Sony’s top executives revealed to the Sankei Shimbun that the news revealed by WikiLeaks was probably true, and that Sony was facing unprecedented severe losses and the collapse of various businesses.

And, this source commented on the work of head Stringer at Sony in the past few years-it is quite ugly.

Unprecedented serious losses!

The collapse of all businesses!

Although the source did not reveal his name, the Sankei Shimbun seemed to trust the source very much and directly headlined the report with "Sony's Big Failure" on the headlines.

In the following two days, Sony's New York headquarters remained silent on a revelation that was unknown whether it was true or false, but more news spread out in Tokyo from time to time through various methods.

What really made the outside world more focused on Sony's internal bubble was the testimony from former Sony SCE president Ken Kutaragi. As the "father of PS" and a former senior executive of Sony, he almost crusaded against Stringer's reform of the group and spoke out about the past. Several years were Sony's worst years.

The relevant media in Japan became lively. Half of them were Olympus and half of Sony were defeated.

It seems that Sony's situation is fermenting faster than Olympus, as if this is the only way to vent.

On the sixth day of October, Olympus executives began to be investigated, and Sony America finally gave a formal response from Stringer.

He held a press conference, not at Sony's New York building headquarters but in an adjacent hotel conference room, to dispel some of the rumors and announce the real situation.

"The so-called revelations are not true. There was no financial fraud in our financial report last year."

"Sony is indeed facing great difficulties. Since March, ten of our factories in Japan have been affected. Such a sudden situation has disrupted the already difficult LCD TV, game console and mobile phone businesses in the past two years. To make matters worse, we may indeed face huge losses this year.”

"As the CEO, I cannot absolve myself of the blame for Sony's current situation."

"I will resign as chairman and CEO of Sony."

As Stringer announced his decision, and as he stood up to face the camera and bowed to apologize, the press conference was in an uproar. Many reporters rushed to ask questions, fearing that Stringer would leave the venue directly.

However, Stringer bowed and sat back down. His face was heavy, but he still nodded to the reporters in the front row.

"Stringer, what do you mean when you say we will face huge losses this year?" a reporter from the New York Times asked bluntly, "Sony announced its Q2 financial report for the second quarter last month. Group sales revenue said It was adversely affected by the appreciation of the yen that it fell by 5.4% year-on-year, but the operating profit was only a loss of US$18 million. Also, your full-year performance forecast is an operating profit of US$262 million.”

From the 1st to now, reporters have obviously done their homework.

Sony's Q2 financial report was only released last month, with a slight loss. The full-year sales revenue is still expected to be 85.3 billion U.S. dollars, and the operating profit will turn a profit, reaching 262 million U.S. dollars...

In less than a month, the chairman, Stringer, actually announced that he might face huge losses? ?

The meaning of “maybe” in this case is already obvious!

Stringer faced this question without hesitation and answered with an extremely candid attitude: "The group is expected to have a write-off of deferred tax assets this year, with a scale of several billion dollars, which may lead to a full-year loss." Condition."

The scene was once again in an uproar.

This directly nailed Sony Group's financial situation!

Moreover, there is clearly no unified voice in New York and Tokyo, and Stringer's decision appears to be temporary.

Or, with no choice but to attack him in Tokyo, Stringer resigned directly and took action!

The reporters' excitement increased to a new level.

A reporter from the Wall Street Journal loudly asked: "Sony has such a bad situation, why did it release its Q2 financial report like that? You just said that the financial report was not fraudulent, isn't this a fraud?"

Faced with such accusations, Stringer had to answer, and even answered patiently: "Counterfeiting is illegal and write-offs are legal. I have tried my best to reverse Sony's situation, but this is an accumulated problem and a result of the system." Problems of rigidity, bloated size, and strategic misdirection.”

"I must admit that my reforms at Sony failed. When I became CEO, I was confident that I could reshape Sony into the most respected brand in the world. However, I underestimated the stubbornness of Japanese corporate culture. , a lot of energy and time was put into dealing with internal issues.”

Stringer faced the media cameras of many countries and calmly attacked Sony's internal affairs and Japanese corporate culture.

Before today's press conference, he thought about and sorted out his decision. Olympus has a compatriot CEO who is similar to himself and has caused a lot of waves. It is said that Panasonic's losses are also extremely exaggerated...

So, is this still my own problem?

Maybe I do have problems, but shouldn’t Sony’s internal and Japanese corporate culture take responsibility?

Stringer is no longer able to check the voice in Tokyo, but he can still explain the company's operations in New York.

However, as soon as he said this, he immediately deeply angered the reporters who flew from Japan.

Yukito Mizuno, a reporter from Japan's "Yomiuri Shimbun" in the second row, stood up and yelled loudly: "Stringer, Sony has suffered huge losses during your tenure. Do you still want to excuse yourself like this? Still looking for Excuse?"

Since the situation at Sony, many Japanese media have sent reporters to fly to New York, but it was only today that I met Stringer, the head of Sony, for the first time.

However, upon seeing this, Stringer first revealed the fact of huge losses, then resigned directly. In the end, he not only evaded responsibility, but also criticized Japanese corporate culture!

What kind of brand is Sony?

It is a brand with great influence in the world, it was once rated as the most respected brand, and it is the pride of the Japanese people. But now it is attacked like this, and attacked on such a scale, Mizuno Yukito can't bear it anymore!

"I just sum up my work from my perspective." Stringer's tone was not fierce, but he did not give in. "Before I became CEO, Sony America brought a lot of profits to the group. When I actually became CEO , I learned about the difficult situation of the group, and I do not deny that I am responsible, but I must say that if we do not face up to internal problems and the atmosphere in Japanese companies, the future situation will be very worrying."

Yukito Mizuno blushed, took two steps forward but was pulled back by the person next to him, and reprimanded loudly: "Stringer! You are Sony's sinner! You are the worst CEO!"

Stringer showed his grace as a British knight, stood up again, bowed and apologized in front of the dazzling cameras and excited reporters.

Then, he said desolately: "Yes, I am the worst CEO in the world."

Just when Stringer was about to end the press conference announcing the end of Sony's career, another reporter asked: "Last year's financial report reflected the existence of asset transactions between Sony and Fang Zhuo of Yike. Is he also related to Sony?" Is it related to financial fraud?”

Stringer had an urge to tell the story exactly as it was, but it only lingered in his mind for two seconds before being crushed.

Objectively speaking, except for the first cooperation, Fang always paid when invited.

"Sony has not committed any financial fraud, and its cooperation with Yike is also within a reasonable scope." Stringer finally answered the question, emphasizing again that there was no illegal behavior. "Mr. Fang deserves respect. He is an external director of Sony and has always been Helping where he can."

Stringer signaled that he would no longer answer questions, and then bowed for the third time amid constant questioning, ending the press conference and revealing to the world the explosive fact that Sony was suffering huge losses.

However, since it is Saturday, Sony's stock price will not react today.

Following Olympus, Sony's losses, collapse, CEO resignation, and suspected falsification of financial reports rushed to the media, and the scene of Stringer answering questions and bowing to apologize was also passed on to everyone.

Stringer is 69 years old this year. He considers himself "the worst CEO" and bowed deeply three times, but he has won a lot of sympathy online.

"He's already like this, what else can he do?"

"Sony is already dead. Otherwise, why would the Japanese president Nobuyuki Idei resign?"

"Nobuyuki Idei is one of the worst CEOs. He made Sony a mess. What can Stringer do?"

Someone else @Mr. Fang asked on Twitter how to select the worst CEO of the past decade, and whether he was involved in Sony’s financial fraud.

No matter how much Stringer emphasized that there was no fraud, with Sony's performance before and after such a contrast, financial fraud is almost universally acknowledged.

"I'm just an outside director. Sony's defeat is so surprising." Fang Zhuo updated his tweet, "The Stringer I know and understand is an extremely serious and responsible person. He...Oh, forget it, I All we can say is that Sony has a big problem.”

He did not directly answer the questions asked, but continued with a second tweet in the evening: "Now there is another question... Are there other companies in WikiLeaks?"

WikiLeaks' revelations mentioned Olympus and also named Sony. Now they have been confirmed. So... who else is the so-called Japanese company?

This issue has not been too publicized for the time being, and the media are still enthusiastically reporting on Sony's situation.

However, on the second day of the Stringer press conference, Olympus Chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa also held a press conference in Tokyo, officially admitting to the existence of financial fraud and concealing speculative losses of US$1.7 billion in the past 20 years.

He and the company's top executives bowed collectively, apologized, announced his resignation, and accepted investigations by prosecutors and police.

“Private Marseille!”

Two days before and after, Stringer and Kikukawa Tsuyoshi bowed and apologized. When these two scenes were compared together... it suddenly made people feel that the private Marseille did not seem so sincere.