Former Sony chief Idei battled pressure of keeping up Sony legend

Chairman and CEO demonstrated foresight for the digital era

20220607 Sony Idei presser

Idei, right, at a press conference, along with then-Chairman Norio Ohga in 1999.

MASANORI MURUI, Nikkei Professional Media Managing Editor

TOKYO -- When Nobuyuki Idei was appointed Sony's president in 1995, the job came with the unenviable pressure of leading a company synonymous with Japan's dizzying postwar economic growth.

"Sony's leader must shine like the sun," one of the company's founding leaders once remarked. In other words, Idei's job was to keep the Sony legend alive.

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