When Sony's purchase of Columbia Pictures was completed on this day it sounded like an expensive, but smart deal. For the sum of $3.4 billion, Sony was not only grabbing one of Hollywood's hottest studios, it was buying synergy, that magical quality of product cross-pollination that all public companies had begun to seek. Sony's president, Norio Ohga, wanted to unite Sony's industry-leading consumer electronics division with Columbia's entertainment properties. The vision, as the Wall Street Journal put it the following day, was of Columbia's film hits such as Rambo playing on pocket VCRs and other new Sony gadgets. Analysts applauded the deal, praising Ogha's strategic vision. No one predicted that Columbia's string of Hollywood successes would abruptly come to an end. Under the direction of producers Jon Peters and Peter Guber, the studio unleashed a series of costly flops and racked-up a $3 billion debt, prompting Sony officials to consider putting their once-prized purchase back on the selling block.
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