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Sony’s Coming Succession Vacuum

In the not so distant future, Sony Pictures will have to grapple with a messy succession, as chairman Tom Rothman’s right-hand man, president Sanford Panitch, has yet to close the deal.

Tom Rothman
Smart and hardworking, Rothman has been the remedy for the overspending and mismanagement that had plagued the studio ever since the Japanese bought it in 1989. Photo: Valerie Macon/AFP/Getty Images
Kim Masters
September 8, 2025

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In late July, Sony Pictures announced a shuffling at the top of its film studio. Tom Rothman, who had long been dogged by rumors of imminent retirement, re-upped with a “multiyear” extension of his contract. He added C.E.O. to his previous title, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group. At the same time, studio co-president Josh Greenstein departed for Paramount, leaving Rothman’s longtime right-hand man, Sanford Panitch, as sole president. “We are all sorry to see Josh go,” Rothman said at the time. “The key to a sound organization, however, is to have a strong bench.”