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Konosuke Matsushita: The Founder & the Former CEO of Panasonic Corporation

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The story of the industrialist and the famous Japanese God of Management, Konosuke Matsushita, is nothing more than a roller coaster ride. The Japanese entrepreneur went through a lot of struggle and faced all type of conflicts, but, at last, emerged as the greatest leader, with its largest Japanese consumer electronics company Panasonic. The writer of four million sold copies of the Developing A Road To Peace And Happiness Through Prosperity and the inspiration of millions, Konosuke Matsushita was a true entrepreneur.

Early Life

Matsushita was born on November 27, 1894, in a Japanese village of Wasa. He belonged to an affluent family. His father was a landlord, primarily owned huge farmlands. Due to some bad investments, soon, the family went through a huge loss and had to give up all of their property. The family moved to a three bedroom apartment in the city and started working for their living. Matsushita received a standard schooling in the city.

Career

With the bad financial conditions, Matsushita could not continue his schooling and started working at a bicycle shop. The Shop went out of business, and his family sent him to Osaka, to do an apprenticeship at a hibachi store. Unfortunately, the store got shut within a year of his joining, and he had to look for another job. At the age of 15, he started working at Osaka Electric Light Company, an electrical utility company. During his job with Osaka Electric, he was promoted several times. After working for five long years with the company, he decided to take up another job, where he could also complete his education. But his father advised him to continue the same job and gain more experience in the field.

During his work at Osaka Electric Light Company, he had gained enough knowledge and experience, so that he invented a new and improved light socket in his spare time. He also introduced the idea to his boss, but his boss was not sure about the potential of the invention.

Founding Panasonic

At the age of 22, Matsushita got promoted as the electrical inspector of the company. In 1917, he decided to leave Osaka Electric and start his own firm, with the help of his wife and brother-in-law. Under the name of his company, he started producing the samples of his newly invented sockets, and approached various wholesalers, to sell his product. But, the new idea could not impress the wholesalers. This caused him a huge loss, and his employees also left him. With his wife and brother-in-law, he continued working on the samples and received his first huge order of thousand insulator plates for electric fans. Being a better and an inexpensive product it gained popularity and wholesalers started trading the product and eventually, Matsushita launched Matsushita Electric Housewares Manufacturing Works on 7 March 1918, that later became Panasonic in future.

Konosuke Matsushita
Image Source: entrepreneurhalloffame.com

In the mid-1920s, Matsushita came with the idea of battery lamps for bicycles, as at the time, the bicycles used to have oil and wax lamps, that could be lighted only for 3 hours.

With the time, Matsushita became more focused on the marketing of the products, that proved to be a big contribution in raising the sales of his company. By 1929, he managed to establish his company among other Japan’s electrical manufacturing companies and opened a few sales branches in some other places across the country.

In the beginning, he produced the products with brand name National and developed many affordable electric appliances. Those appliances included electric iron, battery lamps, and three-tube model radio, etc. In 1940, during the second world war, Matsushita was forced to sign government military contracts. Those contracts helped him establish Matsushita Shipbuilding Company and the Matsushita Airplane Company. Although with these big achievements, due to the war, Matsushita lost 32 of his manufacturing factories and sales offices situated in the various parts of the country.

In 1951, during his tour to the USA, he realised that in order to help Japan recover from all the losses of the second world war, adoption of advanced Western technology was essential. In 1952, Matsushita signed a contract with Philips of the Netherlands. The company saw huge growth between the time of 1950 to 1973 and introduced new home appliances to the Japanese customers. In 1973, he retired from all of his duties for Panasonic.

Personal Life

Matsushita was married to Mumeno Iue, who was a big support for him during his struggle period. Matsushita was always focussed on economic growth of people and has published 44 books based on his social and commercial philosophies. He received the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers in 1987. At the age of 94, on 27 April 1989, he died from pneumonia.

Mark Zuckerberg : The Founder & CEO of World’s Biggest Social Network

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The inventive programmer and the youngest billionaire of the world, Mark Zuckerberg needs no introduction. The CEO and the founder of Facebook, the largest social media network, was once the captain of the fencing team of his school. The young entrepreneur was always interested in programming and used to develop games based on the sketches, his artist friends made. Having a few lawsuits in his name and films made on his life story, Zuckerberg is among the few programmers who have established themselves as the smartest entrepreneurs of the world.

Early Life

Mark Zuckerberg aka Mark Elliot Zuckerberg was born on May 14, 1984, in White Plains, New York, and grew up in the suburbs of Dobbs Ferry, New York. His father Edward Zuckerberg, a dentist and mother Karen (née Kempner), a psychiatrist, belonged to a Jewish family. He was a bright student and always topped in the class. He completed his schooling from Ardsley High School and Phillips Exeter Academy, in New Hampshire. He excelled in mathematics, astronomy, physics and won many prizes in quiz competitions of his school. By the end of his school, he became proficient in French, Hebrew, Latin, and ancient Greek.

Mark Zuckerberg
Image Source: articlebio.com

Zuckerberg owned his first PC Quantex 486DX, on the Intel 486, when he was in middle school. He, eventually, grew an interest in programming languages and ended up learning Atari BASIC Programming form his father. He also received a private tuition to learn more about programming. Soon, he started developing small applications and developed a program, that connected the computers of his father’s office, through a messenger named ZuckNet. During his final year, at the high school, he joined a company name Intelligent Media Group, that worked to build a music player Synapse Media Player. The media player was developed using AI technology, that enabled it to create a playlist based on the music choice of the user. The music player even grabbed the attention of Microsoft and AOL.

Founding Facebook

After completing his school, due to his outstanding performance, he managed to get admission in one of the top universities of America, the Harvard University. By creating some useful software and games, he had already made his reputation as a programmer. He adopted Computer Science and Psychology as his major subjects. His first software at his college was the CourseMatch. The software helped the students to choose the right course and help others with their choices.

In the summer of 2003, Zuckerberg created a website for the students of the Harvard, named as Facemash. The project was developed during one his insomniac nights. The website was inspired by the college yearbook Facebook, that included the profiles of the students having their personal details and pictures in it. The concept behind Facemash was to compare two students based on their appearance. Most of the students enjoyed using it and the others complained about Zuckerberg, saying that he was using their personal data, without permission. The site got shut down within two days and Zuckerberg had to apologise to the students.

After the failure of Facemash, he started working on his new project, The Facebook. Zuckerberg launched the website after one month, i.e., on 4 February 2004. The website was basically designed for the students of Harvard, to help them connect with each other, easily. The website became an instant hit, and just after a year, it expanded to other colleges and schools, in the city. In the second year of his college, he left his studies in between, to work full-time on The Facebook. The founder of PayPal, Peter Thiel, became its first angel investor, by investing $500,000. Soon, Facebook had 50 million registered users, and Zuckerberg started receiving offers to sell Facebook, from large companies, like Yahoo. Even receiving offers worth billions, he never accepted one. Although, he himself acquired many major projects like What’s App and Instagram.

The Lawsuit

On the initial launch of Facebook, three of Zuckerberg ‘s seniors at the University, Divya Narendra, and twin brothers Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss, accused Zuckerberg of stealing their idea. According to them, Facebook was based on their idea, that was to create a platform to connect the students of Harvard. They even claimed that they had hired Zuckerberg to work on their website. Later, they even sued him for the same. In the end, there was a settlement between them, for 1.2 million Facebook shares.

Personal Life

Zuckerberg married his longtime girlfriend and fellow student from Harvard, Priscilla Chan, on 19 May 2012. The couple has two daughters Maxima Chan Zuckerberg and August Chan Zuckerberg.

In July 2018, Zuckerberg became the third richest person in the world $81.6 billion net worth. Although, within a week, his net worth was tumbled nearly $20 billion, eliminating him from the position of the third richest person.

Anthony Levandowski : The Controversial Ex-Engineer of Google

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Anthony Levandowski, the former engineer at Google, does not need any introduction, thanks to all the controversies, he faced in the past one year. The irony is that the man who was the originator of the idea of driverless vehicles, is at the centre of a lawsuit between two major companies, for stealing the same. However, the lawsuit is against him, he must be credited for the introduction to such a technology.

Early Life

Anthony Levandowski was born on 15 March 1980. At the age of 18, he joined the University of California, Berkeley. He received a bachelor’s and a master’s degree, in Industrial Engineering and Operation Research. He was always into machines and loved working on them. In 2004, he participated in the DARPA Grand Challenge with his autonomous motorcycle, named as the Ghostrider, that he built with the help of other fellow engineers. The motorcycle was first of its kind as it was a driver-less bike that rode in the challenge.

Career

Anthony took a job at Google and started working on the Google’s Street View project, in 2007. Already being in love with machines and automobiles, he kept on experimenting with the driver-less cars and started his own company 510 Systems in the same year, he joined Google. He started another company with the name Anthony’s Robots that produced self-driving cars. Under Anthony’s Robots, he built a self-driving Toyota Prius, Pribot, having one of the first spinning Lidar laser ranging units that rode on the public roads.

Anthony
Image Source: businessinsider.com

After recognising the potential of Anthony’s autonomous car production projects, Google acquired the both, transforming it into a single venture, Waymo. Anthony continued making self-driving cars under Waymo, for Google, until January 2016.

Founding Otto

In 2016, Anthony left the job at Google and co-founded Otto, self-driving technology company, along with his former colleague from Google, Lior Ron. In the same year, Uber acquired Otto by paying $680 million. Levandowski held the leadership of Uber’s driverless car operation and continued working with Otto. In October 2016, Otto manufactured an autonomous semi-truck, that completed the 132-mile route, achieving the longest continuous journey by a driverless vehicle.

The Controversy

In February 2017, his former company, Waymo, filed a lawsuit against him, accusing him of stealing 9.7 GB of Waymon’s highly confidential files, trading the secrets and using the blueprints and design files to manufacture autonomous vehicles for Uber. Waymo claimed that the files were stolen, back in 2009, while Levandowski was still working with Google. Levandowski was refrained from working with Otto and later, in the same year, Uber fired him for not co-operating in the investigation.

Levandowski started his own self-driving car company named Kache.ai in July 2018.

Soichiro Honda : The Founder of the Honda Motor Company

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Some achievers are not only achievers but are also the trendsetters. Those trendsetters bring a revolution in their field and get their name registered in the history for their contribution to the world. One such trendsetter is the Japnese Engineer, Soichiro Honda. It would be difficult to find even a single person who is not aware of Honda Motors or hasn’t seen a Honda vehicle. The owner of the company of 100,000 people, did not have an easy ride, but without struggles, there can’t be any progress.

Early Life

Honda was born to a blacksmith, Gihei and a weaver, Mika, on November 17, 1906. His father ran a bicycle repair business. Honda was never interested in the traditional education and used to forge his family’s stamp on the school grade reports, using a rubber bicycle pedal cover. Honda once went to see a demonstration of an aeroplane, that made him fascinated about machines and grew a love for them.

Soichiro Honda
Image Source: youberelentless.com

Career

Honda’s career did not start very smooth. He was just 15, when he moved to Tokyo, and joined a motor garage, as a mechanic. He worked there for over six years. In 1928, he moved back to his hometown and started his own repair business, at the age of 22. He became more interested in automobiles and motor machines, becoming engaged among new experiments with the engines.

Building Honda Motor Co. Ltd.

In 1937, he started producing piston rings for the major car manufacturing Toyota, under his newly founded company, T?kai Seiki. After two years, the second world war occurred and two of his factory plants, of T?kai Seiki, got destroyed in a US B-29 bomber attack (1944) and in an earthquake (1945). After selling the salvageable remains of the company to Toyota, for ¥450,000, in October 1946, he founded the Honda Technical Research Institute. He became the president of the company and stayed the one until he retired in 1973.

Honda designed a mass-produced engine, that he used in the Type A motorised bicycles, that his company sold till 1951. In 1949, he manufactured the first model in the Dream series of motorcycles, that became a landmark of Japanese Automotive Technology. Just in a few years, his company’s turnover was in billions, and it became an MNC, producing the bestselling bikes, in the world. Soon, his company motorcycles were competing with the sales of Triumph and Harley-Davidson. Honda Motors opened its first abroad plant in the US, in 1959.

Even after he retired from his post of President in 1973, he remained as the director of the company and became the supreme advisor of the company, in 1983.

Personal Life & Death

Honda was married to Sachi Honda till his death. His only son, Hirotoshi Honda, followed his lead and became an entrepreneur. He was the CEO of Mugen Motorsports, that produced original racing vehicles.

Honda was very active as a sports person even at the age of 77. He and his wife loved outdoor activities like golf, hang-gliding, ballooning and skiing. On August 5, 1991, Soichiro Honda died, due to liver failure.

Honda has made an impact on the industry of personal motor vehicles and was listed, among the 25 most intriguing of People magazine, in 1980. He was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, in 1991, and even got established Soichiro Honda Medal by ASME, in his name. The medal is given for the outstanding achievements or significant engineering contributions, in the field of personal transport motor manufacturing.

Ma Huateng : The Wealthiest Man in China & Co-founder of Tencent

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The invention of social media platforms has brought the whole world closer. It has connected millions of people around the globe. The genius minds behind the development of such software and applications, deserve success and they have achieved it. From Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, in the US, to QQ in China, all the social media platforms are receiving a whacking response. Chinese internet entrepreneur, Ma Huateng, founded Tencent, which is the biggest internet firms in China, making him the richest man in China.

Early Life

Ma Huateng was born on 29th October 1971, in Dongfang, Hainan, China. His family moved to Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, as his father was a port manager, in Shenzhen. He enrolled at Shenzhen University, in 1989, to study software engineering, and graduated in 1993, with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.

Early Career

After graduating, Ma took a job, as a software developer, with China Motion Telecom Development and developed software for pagers. In that job, he made around $176 per month. In his next job, Ma worked in the research and development department, for internet calling services, in Shenzhen Runxun Communications.

Founding Tencent

In 1998, Ma along with his four classmates founded Tencent. Ma had participated in a presentation, for ICQ, which was the world’s first internet instant messaging service, started by an Israeli company. In February 1999, Tencent launched its first ever product. The product was a similar version of ICQ, but with Chinese interface, and was named OICQ (where O stands for Open). This software received a huge response, and it gained more than a million registered users, just in the first year of its launch. OICQ, soon, became one of the largest internet instant messaging services, in China.

Ma-Huateng
Image Source: moneyinc.com

The early days of Tencent were hard and full of struggle, for all the four co-founders. In the beginning, the company was funded through the money they earned in the share market. The first few years proved to be crucial for the survival, and Ma took various roles, from janitor to website designer, in the company, during that time. Tencent’s initial services included e-mail and internet paging services.

After the launch of OICQ, there were several controversies, and Tencent also faced a lawsuit from America Online (AOL). After acquiring ICQ, AOL filed a lawsuit against Tencent, in the United States, and claimed that OICQ’s domain names OICQ.com and OICQ.net, violated ICQ’s intellectual property rights. Tencent loss the lawsuit, and also suffered heavy costs. They had to shut down both the websites. Soon, Ma changed the name of the software to QQ and decided to expand his business horizon.

Tencent became the largest instant messaging service, in China by 2004 and also launched an online gaming platform, which attracted more than a million online gaming people. The company also launched WeChat, in 2015, after they conducted a competition between two teams of engineers. WeChat is one of the largest instant messaging apps, used all over the world. Ma also plans to launch an internet hospital that will provide long-distance diagnosis and medicine delivery services to the needy.

Personal Life

Ma Huateng is also popularly known by his nickname Pony. The name is derived from the English translation of his family name, which translates to ‘horse’. He serves in the 12th National People’s Congress and is a great supporter of the Government. He believes in: “Ideas are not important in China – execution is.” He was awarded Innovative CEO of the Year, in 2015. He owns a palatial residence in Hong Kong and also supports charity.

Ted Turner : The American Media Tycoon and Co-founder of CNN

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In every century, there comes a person who brings a revolution to the world and the world witness a new wave of development, after such revolutions. A similar person revolutionized the television industry from 1980 onwards. From starting a 24-hour news channel to broadcasting films, sitcoms and gifting the children with their favourite cartoon channel, this man named Ted Turner, is a television and media magnate.

Early Life

Born on 19th November 1938, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Ted Turner’s original name is Robert Edward Turner III. He was born to parents Robert Edward (Ed) Turner Jr. and Florence (Rooney) Turner. He was the eldest child in the family. His father owned a company, Turner Advertising, which sold billboard ads. His father suffered from bipolar disorder, experiencing mood swings, and vented out his anger on young Ted. After years Ted found out that he too suffered from bipolar disorder just like his father.

Ted was left alone in the Cincinnati boarding school after his father signed up for Navy when World War II broke out. Ed came back after the war and moved to Savannah, Georgia, with his family. He enrolled Ted into Georgia Military Academy. Ted attended McCallie boarding school, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he received military training. He wanted to attend the United States Naval Academy, but his father wanted him to attend Harvard. Due to low grades, he had to join the Brown University, in 1956. In 1959, Ted was kicked out of the University for having a woman in his dorm room. He could not earn his diploma and the same year his parents, too, got divorced.

The beginning of Business Career

Ted, then came back South, in 1960, and took up the position of general manager at his father’s company. He was the general manager of Macon, Georgia branch of Turner Advertising. Just in his first year, Ted showed tremendous growth and doubled the revenue of the company. But soon, the company was in a difficult financial condition, when his father bought the company’s competitor, in 1962. This led him into depression and he committed suicide, in March 1963.

Ted Turner
Image Source: Forbes

After this shocking incident, Ted engrossed himself more in work. He took the positions of president and CEO at the age of 24, and consequently, made the company a global enterprise. The company boosted in financial profits and was considered to have a monopoly in Savannah, Macon, Columbia, and Charleston. In 1969, Ted bought several Southern radio stations and renamed the company as Turner Communications. He sold the radio stations and purchased a couple of struggling television stations. By 1970, Ted Turner became famous as the owner of the largest advertising company, in the southeastern United States. His investment in television channels proved highly profitable as he believed that people wanted several choices. He also purchased rights to old movies, sitcoms, and some cartoons.

But it was in 1976, that a big leap occurred when the FCC gave him the permission to use satellite technology to transmit content to local cable providers. This led Turner to reach an even larger audience. Now, with more audience base and even more broadcasting options, Turner changed the company’s name yet again to Turner Broadcasting Company. He was constantly on the lookout for new business ideas and expanding his broadcasting to larger and larger audiences. It was in the late 1970s when he came up with an idea of starting a 24-hour news network. And in 1980, he launched Cable News Network (CNN) with the help of Reese Schonfeld who was then appointed as the first president and chief executive officer of the channel.

Throughout the years, Turner was constantly investing to expand his business horizon. In 1976, Turner acquired Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), and in 1992, he launched Cartoon Network, which went on to grow one of the most famous cartoon channels, all over the world. In the same year, he launched Turner Network Television and Turner Classic Movies, which made him the leader in both television and internet fields. In 1996, he sold his company to Time Warner for a whopping $7.5 billion. He ventured into yet entirely new business just the next year i.e. a steakhouse serving bison named Ted’s Montana Grill.

Personal Life

Ted Turner married three times and is divorced all the three times. He is the father of five children from his first two marriages. Two from his first wife, Judy Gale, and three from his second wife, Jane Shirley Smith. His most famous marriage was with the actress Jane Fonda, that lasted for ten years and broke over religious disagreements. He is known as the individual owner of largest land in North America.