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When Sony broke into the financial business, co-founder Akio Morita said: “The first 10 years of the life insurance business will be its early investment period. It may be in 20 years’ time that the business will bear fruit.” © Getty Images
MASAMICHI HOSHI, Nikkei deputy editor
TOKYO -- Sony's late co-founder Akio Morita was a visionary. Among his many visions, one that was very dear to him was creating a financial unit. He finally realized what he had once called his "30-year dream" when Sony set up a life insurance venture with a U.S. company in the late 1970s.