Inducted May 2012

 

Cofounded, at age 25, Sony Corp. (originally known as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K., or Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corp.) in 1946. Starting with 20 employees, Mortia helped shepherd Sony from a lower-cost maker of consumer electronics to one of the world's leading designers and manufacturers of a range of electronics, from audio/visual equipment to large-scale industrial machines.

Morita is credited with the ideas behind the Walkman and the video cassette recorder, ushering in a phase of portability and ease of use that are now staples of Western culture.