Popular social media app Snapchat has hired Michael Lynton, Sony Corporation and Sony Entertainment's CEO, as its Chairman of Board. Lynton has resigned from Sony and will be taking over his responsibilities at Snap Inc. in the next six months.
In a statement sent to Sony employees, Lynton, who has been looking after the movie, TV, and music divisions, shared details on his exit from the company.
"Today I will be announcing my resignation from Sony to focus on my position as Chairman of the Board of Snap Inc. This was not an easy decision for me, and one that I arrived at after long and careful consideration," shared Lynton.
Lynton's resignation was confirmed by Sony Corporation in a press release. The company shared that his resignation would come into effect from Feb. 2, 2017. Lynton will continue to be with the company for six months as Co-CEO of Sony Entertainment. He would be overseeing the Pictures and Music businesses.
Lynton would also carry out his duties as CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Corporation of America. He would be working with Kazuo Hirai, the Japan-based President of Sony Corporation, in this transition period to look for his successor.
In this transition phase, Hirai would be operating as the Co-CEO and Chairman of Sony Entertainment.
Lynton's Snap Inc. Connect
Once this six-month transition period has lapsed, Lynton would be moving over to Snap Inc. to take over his duties as the Chairman of Board.
Lynton has been associated with Snap Inc. since its inception and is reportedly with Snapchat's co-founder Evan Spiegel. It is believed that Lynton was instrumental in advising Spiegel in turning down the $3 billion takeover proposition from Facebook.
"I have been involved with Evan and Snapchat since its early days, and given its growth since then, decided the time was right to transition and focus on my role as Chairman of the Board of Snap Inc.," revealed Lynton.
During his tenure at Sony, Lynton had to grapple with plenty of critical situations such as the cyberattack in 2014, which led to the hacking of the company's internal documents.
With 10 million daily users, Snapchat is a popular social media app with millennials and is steadily growing. In September 2016, the company took the wraps off a new pair of virtual glasses dubbed Spectacles, which lets people shoot videos that can be uploaded to Snapchat.
Snap Inc. is reportedly setting up its international headquarters in London, UK. The company is also working on an IPO, which allegedly targets a $20 billion to $25 billion valuation.