Norio Ohga
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He came from an unusual background: he started out as a vocalist, became a consultant to Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo in 1953 and joined the company in September 1959. He became a director in 1964 and Executive Vice President in 1976, and led the music business, including CBS/Sony Records, established in March 1968 as a joint venture with CBS Inc. In a company founded by engineers, he brought a view of the business from the side of the content played on the hardware rather than the hardware itself.
Selection
In November 1982 he succeeded Kazuo Iwama as President. In the period ended October 1982, the year before he took office, sales were ¥832.9 billion and ordinary income ¥72.3 billion, down from ¥86.0 billion the year before. Sony's earnings then rested on hardware, and in the home video format battle Betamax had fallen behind the VHS camp, eroding the advantage of its proprietary technology. As the approach of winning through proprietary technology stopped working, the top job went to the man who had led the music business.
Initiatives
In January 1988 Sony acquired the records division of CBS Inc. for about $2 billion, and in November 1989 brought Columbia Pictures Entertainment under its wing for about $3.4 billion. Put at $4.4 billion in total, the acquisition was an outsized investment in the United States. In November 1993 he established Sony Computer Entertainment, which launched "PlayStation" the following December, adopting CD-ROM to cut manufacturing costs and bringing in a wide range of outside developers. Organizationally, in April 1994 he abolished the business group system and introduced in-house companies.
Career
Career
Sony
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1953 | Consultant, Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo |
| Sep 1959 | Joined |
| 1964 | Director |
| 1976 | Executive Vice President |
| Nov 1982 | President |
| Apr 1995 | Chairman |
| Apr 1995 | Stepped down as President |