Hiroki Totoki, President and CEO of Sony, sold more than half of the shares he held in the company shortly after confirming the discontinuation of physical game manufacturing for future PlayStation releases starting in 2028.
According to a filing with the SEC, the United States financial market regulator, Totoki traded 225,000 Sony shares on July 3. This transaction represented approximately 56.5% of his total stake and amounted to about US$ 4.7 million, calculated based on a price of US$ 21.02 per share.
The sale occurred just two days after Sony announced its strategy to migrate to an entirely digital system, a decision that provoked a strong negative reaction from a segment of the gaming community.
The temporal coincidence between these events generated speculation on social media and in parts of the international press, suggesting a possible link between the stock sale and the poor reception of the new PlayStation strategy. However, there is no proof linking this operation to the company's announcement or pointing to a potential departure of Hiroki Totoki from the presidency of Sony.
It is common for executives of large corporations to make partial sales of their assets for financial, tax, or wealth diversification reasons, often following pre-established plans.
The trade also drew attention by recalling a similar incident involving Jim Ryan, former PlayStation leader. In December 2023, Ryan sold a considerable amount of his Sony shares months before formally leaving the management of the PlayStation division in March 2024. Despite this similarity, there is no confirmation that Totoki's case is related to any change in the company's leadership.
Since Sony's announcement, the decision to stop producing discs for new titles starting in January 2028 continues to generate negative criticism among some consumers. On social media, gamers express dissatisfaction with the progression to a purely digital model, voicing concerns about issues such as game preservation, digital ownership, and dependence on virtual stores.
The intensity of this reaction was such that recent PlayStation publications have accumulated thousands of comments regarding the end of physical media, regardless of the topic addressed. Additionally, consumer groups have mobilized online petitions and campaigns requesting the company to reconsider its decision. To date, Sony has not issued official statements regarding the share sale made by Hiroki Totoki, nor has it provided new pronouncements about the controversy related to the cessation of physical media.
