Famed Auto Executive Lee Iacocca Dies at 94 Iacocca saved Chrysler and became celebrity CEO in the 1980s By John D. Stoll and Chester Dawson Updated July 3, 2019 6:15 am ET Lee Iacocca, the tough-talking, cigar-chomping auto executive who saved Chrysler Corp. in the early 1980s and became one of America’s first big-time, celebrity CEOs, has died at age 94 of complications related to Parkinson’s disease. R.I.P. Lee Iacocca One of the U.S.'s first celebrity CEOs, Chrysler savior Lee Iacocca, has passed away at the age of 94. Iacocca spent decades at Ford—he was pivotal in the development of the Mustang—before being fired by Henry Ford Jr. and being snapped up by Chrysler. As Chrysler CEO, he saved the company from bankruptcy by getting the Treasury Department to guarantee bank loans. Fortune
What a great car man. A few years ago I was helping a friend prepare for an estate sale after her mother passed and we were going through piles of junk. Her father ran in those circles... the whole Motown upper echelon of car people back in its heyday. He had cut this ad out and saved it for whatever reason, I kept it because I thought it was pretty cool in retrospect. Iacocca and Delorean were pretty good friends. Lee was even best man at one of Delorean's numerous weddings. Great car men. Nowadays we have Elon. All in all... certainly a tribute to the power of America's immigrant roots. (maga?) Anyway... here I snapped a picture of that ad for ya'll, I think its pretty cool. Maybe Cutty should sign Elon... try again. Who knows.