New Ideas in the World

Akio Morita
New Ideas in the World
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Akio Morita: "If you go through life convinced that your way is always best, all the new ideas in the world will pass you by."

Akio Morita (1921-1999) was a Japanese businessman and co-founder, CEO, and chairman of Sony.

Morita, though he came from a family with a long tradition of sake brewing, was passionate about mathematics and physics, and he graduated from Ōsaka Imperial University with a degree in physics. He worked in the Air Amoury at Yokosuka during World War II, where he met Ibuka Masaru.

In 1946, Morita and Ibuka cofounded Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation, renamed Sony Corporation in 1958. Morita handled the financial and business matters of Sony as well as its marketing. Some of Sony's early successes include early consumer versions of the tape recorder (1950) and the Walkman (1980s-90s). In 1961, under Morita’s direction, Sony became the first Japanese company to trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

Morita played an important role in managing Sony until his retirement in 1994.

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