Sir Howard Stringer, chairman/CEO of Sony, and Brad Anderson, vice chairman and CEO of Best Buy, one of the largest CE retailers in the world, were given the opportunity last week to talk on the US TV program CEO Exchange about the consumer electronic industry and their respective companies.
Stringer was up first, and when asked how it felt to be the first non-Japanese chairman of Sony, he said, "I'm the accidental occidental," explaining that he never really aspired to be a CEO. He said when he was with CBS News, "I was happy writing!" Eventually he became the producer of "The CBS News With Dan Rather" when it was No. 1 network news program.
Stringer said that when he was at CBS it was similar to today's Sony, "Both are creative companies with people who are proud of the company's values and integrity. When I was at CBS there was a feeling that it was about more than just making money."
He had his first taste in the executive suite when investor Lawrence Tisch took over CBS, named him president of the network and ordered him to make cutbacks. "I never had to cut jobs before." Around 150 CBS veterans were fired and Stringer said, "It was a miserable experience."
