Name: Ken Kutaragi
Nationality: Japanese
Birthday: August 2, 1950
Place of Birth: Tokyo, Japan.
Age: 73 years old
Marital Status: Married
Parents: owner of printing plant (names are unknown)
Net Worth: $20 million
Career:
Cellius CEO (2007-)
Sony CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment (2003-07)
Sony President, Sony Computer Entertainment (2003-06)
Sony EVP & CEO American Operations, Sony
Computer Entertainment (1999-2003)
Sony COO, Sony Computer Entertainment (1997-2003)
Sony EVP of R&D, Sony Computer Entertainment (1997-99)
Sony Dir. and GM of R&D, Sony Computer Entertainment (1996-97)
Sony Manager, PlayStation Project, Sony Computer Entertainment (1993-99)
Sony Manager, PlayStation Project (1991-93)
Sony Research, PlayStation Project (1986-91)
Sony Engineer (1975-89)
Member of the Board of Sony (2000-05)
Awards: Best Managers, BusinessWeek , 2002.
Education:
Denki Tsushin University, degree in electrical engineering, 1975
Work History:
At an early age, Ken Kutaragi would work on their small printing plant after school, he had an
reputation of straight-A student.
Innovations/products/service offered:
As an engineer at Sony Computer Entertainment, Ken Kutaragi devised a game-changing idea
which could rival the Nintendo game console and Seda. At the time, video games were primarily
played on computers or low quality consoles with limited graphics, so he proposed creating a
gaming console that could play high quality 3D games. His notable innovation, the Sony
PlayStation, was launched in 1994 and became an instant success.
Type and Classification of the Entrepreneur:
Ken Kutaragi is a compassionate, determined, dedicated, and hardworking intrapreneur who
inspires other people with the success he has today. He serves as an inspiration for myself to
continue striving in pursuing my dreams despite the financial challenges.
He did discover his skills and what he wanted by working in his parents' business. As he helped
in their business, he fell in love with electronics. And one lesson learned is that doing things you
love will help you succeed in life.
Entrepreneurial Competencies:
He seized the opportunity that serves as an opening to improve the business operations.
He takes risks and chances in doing his notable innovations even if it was out of the company's
comfort zone.
After he was rejected by some executives, he still stood up for his idea and never gave up until
PlayStation was launched and became successful.
Quotes:
"I'm not worried. Good luck, ... the center of gravity."
"It's just starting, we are growing up"
"We want consumers to think to themselves 'I will work more hours to buy one.' We want people
to feel that they want it, irrespective of anything else."
Reflections:
We all have our own dreams we want to achieve eventually. We are born with different skills,
talents and capabilities. There are also things we can learn from different people that would
contribute to our success that we only know we had after some time.
Ken Kutaragi is deemed to be the "Father of the PlayStation" who has contributed success to
Sony. He is one of the richest and most influential gaming business executives in the world. He
was not born in a wealthy family, but it did not stop him from becoming successful. This made
me realize that your status in life will never define your future as long as you are doing your part
in achieving your goals. At an early age of a person, life was usually all about enjoying, playing
and centered on material things such as toys. But in the case of Kutaragi, he would go to his
parents' business after school. He even experienced not having his toys to divert his attention to
see how his parents worked and was encouraged to explore mechanics for the operation of his
parents' business which is a small printing plant.
After he took his degree in electrical engineering at Denki Tsushin University, he worked as a
researcher at Sony on their digital research laboratories. He worked on projects such as early
LCDs, and digital cameras which are successful. When was in his late 30's , a time when video
games were primarily played on computers or low quality consoles with limited graphics, he
realized the potential for video games held by watching his daughter play the Famicom. Sony
executives resisted his idea but because he was persistent, he then convinced them that video
games were an investment. This demonstrated the characteristics of being a successful
intrapreneur which are being persistent in identifying risks that could serve as an opportunity for
the company, and it requires creativity, innovation, hardwork and dedication. As they say, no
one achieves their goals without facing challenges and trials on their journey. Because of
Kutaragi, we have PlayStation and other successors we come to love. He is indeed a legendary
figure in video game history.
References:
Ken Kutaragi 1950— Biography - Creative engineer, The toy that saved sony. (n.d.).
https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/biography/F-L/Kutaragi-Ken-1950.html#google_vignette
Ken Kutaragi Biography - Japanese engineering technologist and businessman (born 1950).
(n.d.). Pantheon. https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Ken_Kutaragi/
Watson, A. (2013, October 11). Biography: Meet Sony’s Ken Kutaragi. Arcade Sushi.
https://arcadesushi.com/biography-meet-sonys-ken-kutaragi/
Apumone. (2022, September 30). Ken Kutaragi Net Worth 2022, age, wife, children, height,
family, parents, salary. https://www.apumone.com/ken-kutaragi-net-worth/?amp=1
Kutaragi, Ken | Encyclopedia.com. (n.d.). https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/culture-
magazines/kutaragi-ken
