The press releases on this website are provided for historical reference purposes only.
Please note that certain information may have changed since the date of release.
January 28, 2003
Sony Corporation announces the retirement of Norio Ohga as Chairman of the Board and Director of Sony Corporation, effective January 29, 2003. Mr. Ohga today informed the Board of Directors of his intention to retire from the position of Director and this was formally accepted.
Mr. Ohga will assume the position of Honorary Chairman of Sony Corporation effective January 30, 2003.
In accordance with the regulations for Sony's Board of Directors, Nobuyuki Idei will act as Chairman/CEO and Chairman of the Board of Sony Corporation from January 30 until the General Meeting of Shareholders to be held in June of this year.
Reference
| Norio Ohga | Developments at Sony | |
|---|---|---|
| 1930 | Born in Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan (Jan. 29) | |
| 1953 | Graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music | |
| Becomes Consultant and Advisor to Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K. (present Sony) | ||
| Enters Hochschule fur Musik in Munich (October) | ||
| 1955 | Transfers to Berlin University of the Arts | |
| 1957 | Graduates from Berlin University of the Arts | Sony markets world's smallest transistor radio, TR-63 (March) |
| 1959 | Enters Sony (September) | |
| 1964 | Director, Sony Corp. Manager, Product Planning Division | |
| 1968 | Senior Managing Director, CBS/Sony Records (March) | CBS/Sony Records (Joint venture between CBS and Sony) established |
| 1970 | President and Representative Director CBS/Sony Records (April) | Sony shares listed on the NYSE (September) |
| 1972 | Managing Director, Sony Corp. (June) | |
| 1974 | Senior Managing Director, Sony Corp. | Color TV assembly plant established at Bridgend, Wales, UK |
| 1976 | Executive Deputy President, Sony Corp. | Akio Morita becomes Chairman and Kazuo Iwama President of Sony Corp. |
| 1976 | President, Sony Shoji Corp. (January) | |
| 1982 | President and Chief Operating Officer of Sony Corp. (Sept.) | Sony markets "CDP-101"CD Player (October) |
| 1985 | Sony markets 8mm camcorder, CCD-V8 (Jan) | |
| 1986 | Sony Europe GMBH established in Germany (November) | |
| 1988 | Chairman, Sony USA Inc. (March) Receives Medal of Honor with Blue Ribbon | Sony acquires CBS Records (January) |
| 1989 | Vice Chairman, Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Feb) | Sony markets compact 8mm camcorder, CCD-TR55 (June) |
| President and CEO, Sony Corp. (June) | Sony acquires Columbia Pictures (November) | |
| 1992 | Sony markets MiniDisc (MD) system (November) | |
| 1993 | Sony Computer Entertainment etablished (November) | |
| 1994 | Receives Commander's Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany | Business Unit system abolished, Company system introduced (Apr) |
| 1995 | Chairman and CEO, Sony Corp. | Nobuyuki Idei appointed as next President of Sony Corp. |
| Chairman, Electronic Industries Association of Japan (May) | ||
| 1996 | Officier dans l'Ordre National de la Legion d'Honneur, France (Dec.) | Sony 50th anniversary (May) |
| 1997 | Corporate Executive Officer system introduced (June) | |
| 1998 | Vice Chairman, Keidanren (Japan Federation of Economic Organizations) | Nobuyuki Idei becomes Co-CEO (May) |
| 1999 | President, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra (April) | Nobuyuki Idei becomes CEO (June) |
| Akio Morita dies (October) | ||
| 2000 | Chairman of the Board, Sony Corp. (June) | Nobuyuki Idei appointed next Chairman/CEO of Sony Corp. (Apr) |
| Kunitake Ando appointed as President and COO of Sony Corp. |
