Corporate activist Daniel Loeb took his team to Japan in April 2012 to determine if the world's third-largest economy was ready for investment. The Bank of Japan had set a new 1 percent inflation goal, an encouraging step in a country where growth had stagnated for two decades.
Yet Loeb wasn't convinced until October, when polls signaled that the next prime minister would be Shinzo Abe, a pro-business leader who agitated for reforms, including a weaker yen and unprecedented monetary easing, to end deflation.
As the economy blossomed in the first five months of 2013, the stock market soared and the yen fell, Loeb decided the time was right to push for a shake-up at Sony Corp. It reflected his confidence that "Abenomics" had primed hidebound Japan for a polite version of American-style activism even at an iconic company.