THE ‘80s A Special Report :...

Akio Morita wasn’t the first foreigner to buy a movie studio during a decade when ownership of Hollywood companies began to shift overseas. But because he also is the founder and chairman of the Japanese electronic giant Sony Corp., his purchase last fall of Columbia Pictures Entertainment for $3.4 billion, easily became the decade’s most ambitious and controversial move into Hollywood movie-making. Sony’s purchase came two years after it bought another American entertainment giant, CBS Records.

Shortly after announcing plans to buy Columbia, Sony became embroiled in a vicious public dispute with Warner Communications, which held under contract two producers that Sony wanted to hire to run the studio. Sony eventually got its two executives, Peter Guber and Jon Peters, but paid a steep price.

Sony stands out among Japanese companies as an aggressive and mobile global player. Morita himself is considered among the most international-minded Japanese executives. Still, he drew fire in the U.S. after the release this year of a book he co-wrote criticizing American business practices.

The Taste Makers project was edited by David Fox, assistant Sunday Calendar editor.