Former Sony President and Chairman Norio Ohga, who gave up a career as an opera singer to join the fledgling consumer electronics maker in the 1950s and later led its expansion into movies and video games, died on Saturday, the company said. He was 81.
Ohga was Sony's president from 1982 to 1995, overseeing the $3.4 billion purchase of Columbia Pictures in 1989 at the height of Japan's economic bubble when many Japanese firms dominated their industries globally and were buying up iconic assets abroad.
Ohga remained a senior adviser to the company at the time of his death. He was credited with spearheading Sony's development of the compact disc and its push into music, playing a central role in the acquisition of a major record label, CBS Records. Ohga also presided over Sony's entry into the home video game business, which it came to dominate with the PlayStation.