Home > Akio Morita

Trained as a physicist, Morita was an officer in the Japanese navy during World War II. His family was involved in sake production. He met Masaru Ibuka in the Wartime Research Committee ; on May 7, 1946, they founded Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K . (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation, later Sony) with approximately 20 employees and initial capital of 190,000 yen. Ibuka was 38 years old at the time and Morita was 25.

In 1949 the company developed magnetic recording tape and in 1950 sold the first tape recorder in JapanJapan (, Nippon/Nihon literally "the origin of the sun") is a country in East Asia situated on a chain of islands east of the Asian continent on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. The largest of these islands are, from north to south, Hokkaido , Honsh. In 1957Events January January 2 San Francisco and Los Angeles stock exchanges merge. January 3 Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch January 4 After 69 years the last issue of Colliers magazine is published January 5 Russell Endean becomes t it produced a pocket-sized radioFor other uses see: radio (disambiguation Radio is a technology that allows the transmission of signals by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of light. Radio waves Radio waves are a form of electromagnetic radiation, and are and a year later renamed itself Sony (sonus is LatinAlternative meanings: See Latin (disambiguation Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. It gained great importance as the formal language of the Roman Empire. All Romance languages are descended from Latin, and ma for soundThis article is about compression waves. For other meanings, see sound (disambiguation Sound is a mechanical compression and rarefaction or a longitudinal displacement wave that propagates through a medium (solid, liquid or gas). The speed of this propaga). In 1960Events January-February January 1 Independence of Cameroon January 9 Aswan High Dam construction begins in Egypt January 11 Chad declares its independence. January 14 Ralph Chubb, the gay poet and printer, dies at Fair Oak Cottage in Hampshire. January 23 it produced the first transistorThe transistor is the key active component in practically all modern electronics. The transistor is a solid state semiconductor device used for amplification and switching. In essence, it has three terminals. A current or voltage applied through/across tw televisionSee TV (disambiguation) for other uses and Television (band) for the rock band Television is a telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving moving pictures and sound over a distance. The term has come to refer to all the aspects of television p in the world.

In 1961 Sony Corporation of America was the first Japanese company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1989 Sony bought Columbia Pictures.

On November 25, 1994, Morita announced his resignation as Sony chairman, after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage while playing tennis.

Morita also wrote a book called Never Mind School Records in the '60s, which stressed that school records are not important in one's success or ability to do business. He was also Vice Chairman of the Keidanren ( Japan Federation of Economic Organizations) and was a member of the Japan-U.S. Economic Relations Group , (also known as the " Wise Men's Group ").

He was awarded the Albert Medal from the United Kingdom's Royal Society of Arts in 1982; he was the first Japanese to receive the honour. Two years later, he received the prestigious National Order of the Legion of Honor and in 1991, he was awarded the First Class Order of the Sacred Treasure from H. M. the Emperor of Japan.

He died of pneumonia. He was 78.