Akio Morita

Akio Morita met engineer Masaru Ibuka during wartime technical work and joined him in 1946 to establish Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation. Morita brought business, marketing and international ambitions to the partnership while Ibuka led much of the early engineering.

Morita helped secure transistor technology, created the shorter Sony name and drove the company into overseas markets. Products such as transistor radios, Trinitron televisions and the Walkman reflected his belief that compact electronics could create entirely new habits for consumers.

Sony carried that approach into personal computing through the professional SMC-70, the Hit Bit MSX range and later NEWS and VAIO systems. Morita's ability to connect technology, design and a global brand made him one of the most influential business figures in postwar electronics.