Nobuyuki Idei (出井伸之, ''Idei Nobuyuki''; 22 November 1937 – 2 June 2022) was a Japanese businessman. He was

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

and group chief executive officer of

Sony Corporation , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

until 7 March 2005. He was a director of

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

, Baidu, Yoshimoto Kogyo and Nestlé.

Early life

Idei was born in Tokyo on 22 November 1937. His father was a professor of economics at Waseda University, a private university in Tokyo.

Career

Idei joined SONY Corporation, Sony Corporation when he graduated from Waseda University. He started as a trainee working with the co-founders Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka and rose through the ranks as a marketing specialist. During the time, he also moved to Europe to manage Sony's businesses in the continent. After a stroke sidelined former chairman Akio Morita, Sony Chief executive officer, CEO and new chairman Norio Ohga selected Idei to be the next president (corporate title), president, a choice that raised eyebrows at Sony. His sweeping reorganizations of the company included trimming the board of directors from 38 members dominated by company management to 10 with a substantial presence of outsiders. Already perceived as the company's driving force, Idei was formally named co-CEO in 1998 and sole CEO in 1999. In 2000, while Ohga remained chairman of the board, Idei became executive chairman and Kunitake Andō became president. In 2003, on Ohga's retirement, Idei became the sole chairman, and the title of chief executive officer was altered to group chief executive officer. On 7 March 2005, it was announced that Idei would be succeeded on 22 June by Sir Howard Stringer. In 2006, Idei joined the board leading Accenture. On 28 September 2011, Idei joined the board of directors of Lenovo. Idei founded his own consulting firm Quantum Leaps Corporation on his retirement from Sony. He was also on the board of companies including

and Baidu. On 5 February 2015, Idei retired from Accenture's board of directors.

Personal life

Idei was married and had a daughter. He died on 2 June 2022 from liver failure. He was aged 84.

References

External links

Biography

"ZL Technologies Appoints Former CEO of SONY to Its Advisory Board"

Nobuyuki Idei anfiniti
{{DEFAULTSORT:Idei, Nobuyuki 1937 births 2022 deaths Accenture people Baidu people Lenovo people Sony people Nestlé people Businesspeople from Tokyo Waseda University alumni Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies alumni Directors of Nestlé General Motors former executives Japanese chief executives Japanese chairpersons of corporations Recipients of the Legion of Honour Deaths from liver failure