Akio Morita

About

Akio Morita was a japanese businessman and co founder of Sony along with Masaru Ibuka.

Life

Akio Morita was born in the village of Kosugaya, Japan. Morita's family was involved in sake, miso and soy sauce production in the Chita Peninsula, Aichi Prefecture since 1665. He was the oldest of four siblings and his father Kyuzaemon trained him as a child to take over the family business. Akio, however, found his true calling in mathematics and physics, and in 1944 he graduated from Osaka Imperial University with a degree in physics. He was later commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and served in World War II. During his service, Morita met his future business partner Masaru Ibuka in the Navy's Wartime Research Committee.

What's interesting?

• You may not have heard of Morita but you've undoubtedly heard of his company, Sony. Sony's first product was a rice cooker that unfortunately didn't cook rice so much as burn it, selling less than 100 units. This first setback didn't stop Morita and his partners as they pushed forward to create a multi-billion dollar company.
• Morita's family was involved in sake, miso and soy sauce production in the Chita Peninsula, Aichi Prefecture since 1665.
• Morita's family invested in Sony during the early period and was the largest shareholder.
• In 1949, the company developed magnetic recording tape and in 1950, sold the first tape recorder in Japan.
• In 1957, it produced a pocket-sized radio (the first to be fully transistorized), and in 1958, Morita and Ibuka decided to rename their company Sony (derived from "sonus"--Latin for "sound"—and Sonny-boys the most common American expression).
•  However, since the radio was slightly too big to fit in a shirt pocket.