Howard Stringer, the "affable axe-wielder"
Howard Stringer, CEO of Sony, is no stranger to making layoffs: 1987, he laid off 200 employees at CBS News, and just recently he spearheaded the layoffs of 10,000 Sony jobs - one newspaper gave him the rather dubious title of "affable axe-wielder." And although you may be frightened to work under him, Stringer's decisions while working at Sony's North American movie and music divisions did make that sect more financially sound.
60 Minutes' Leslie Stahl sat down with Stringer to talk about his life and the uphill battle he is having to make Sony competitive and profitable. Stringer has set precedent for being the first westerner to ever helm Sony, and with that he is trying his best to do his job and retain as much of Sony's traditions as possible. In his words, "I have things to learn from the Japanese. And not just the other way around."
[via Next Generation; Image taken from Byte Hell 2000 and has been, obviously, altered from its original state]
