Akio Morita was the co-founder of the Sony corporation.
Morita was born in Nagoya,
Japan, on January
26, 1921. His family had brewed
sake for many generations and he was expected to join the family business.
Instead, Morita became
a physicist. On May 7, 1946, he and Masaru Ibuka
founded Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation. Ibuka was in charge of research and developing products.
Morita took care of marketing, financing, employee
relations, and expanding their company internationally.
In
1958, they changed
the company’s name to
Sony. They wanted a name that was easy for people in other countries to say and to remember.
It was the first step in their strategy
for expanding their
business into a global corporation.
In 1960, Morita moved to the United States to lead Sony Corporation of America.
In 1961, Sony became
the first Japanese
company to offer shares on the New York Stock Exchange. This encouraged other Japanese
companies to raise money
from foreign sources instead
of borrowing from Japanese
banks.
Over the
years, Morita’s
creativity and innovation resulted in the development of products such as the Walkman and the video cassette
recorder.
Morita also expanded Sony’s
operations. In 1968, Sony became involved
in music software. In 1979, the Sony Prudential Life Insurance company
was founded. In 1988, Sony bought CBS Records and, a year later, Columbia Pictures.
Morita also worked to introduce
Japanese culture
and to ease Japan’s
trade relations with other nations. He was very good at this, and his cheerful
personality made him popular with business
and political leaders
around the world. Many countries, including Japan, gave him their highest awards
for his work.
Morita’s energy and drive carried over to his personal life.
He began to ski, play tennis, and scuba dive later
in life.
In 1993, Morita suffered
a stroke while playing tennis.
He resigned as chairman
of Sony, but remained
as Honorary Chairman until his death on October 3, 1999.
