According to the Kutaragi myth propagated by legions of video-game fanatics, the “Father of the PlayStation” was an “A++” student who, as a child, took toys apart to find out how they worked. He went on to create one of the world’s most lucrative playthings.

His CV suggests that a clash with Sir Howard Stringer, the Sony chief executive, was all but inevitable. Recruited from the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo by Sony, Ken Kutaragi joined a company with a deep aversion to gaming.

While working for Sony he secretely developed a groundbreaking chip for the rival Nintendo. When the Sony board discovered the project, only the backing of Norio Ohga, the chief executive at the time, saved his job.

The intervention proved prescient. Under Mr Kutaragi’s guidance, the games division became Sony’s most profitable. Riding high, he was spoken of as a future chief executive. That the 56-year-old recently openly criticised antipiracy software championed by Sir Howard illustrates why that never happened.

In contrast, the background of the man who would go on to lead Sony suggests a smooth-talking charmer. The past of Sir Howard, 65, is populated by New York media types. The Cardiff-born naturalised American arrived at Sony after a highflying career in the cutthroat world of US network television.

He spent 30 years at CBS and under his leadership the network became the first to rise from last place to first in one season. In 1993, in what Sony still trumpets as “one of the most-chronicled coups in television history”, the former journalist convinced David Letterman, the talk-show host, to leave NBC and join his network. Had Sir Howard wished, the story suggests, he had ample skills to talk Mr Kutaragi into staying.

Explore Industry Sectors

• Banking & Finance

• Construction & Property

• Consumer Goods

• Engineering

• Health

• Industrials

• Leisure

• Media

• Natural Resources

• Retailing

• Support Services

• Technology

• Telecoms

• Transport

• Utilities

Times Recommends

• B&B shareholders forced into funding rescue
• John Lewis department store sales plunge 8.3%
• Families turn to credit to cover mortgage bills