TOKYO (Reuters) -Kazuo Inamori, the founder of Japanese electronics maker Kyocera Corp., has died, the company said on Tuesday.

Inamori, 90, passed away due to old age at his home in Kyoto on the morning of Aug. 24, Kyocera said in a statement.

In 1959, he founded Kyocera, then known as Kyoto Ceramic Co., with an initial investment of 3 million yen ($21,666.91). The conglomerate now has nearly 60,000 employees, making a range of products from electronic components to kitchen knives.

In 2010, Inamori was tapped to lead the bankrupt Japan Airlines Co., helping it to restructure and relist on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2012.

Inamori was an honorary chairman of Kyocera and an ordained Buddhist priest.

($1 = 138.4600 yen)

(Reporting by Mariko Katsumura and Rocky Swift; Editing by Kim Coghill)