Lido Anthony “Lee” Iacocca is an automobile executive born on 15th of October 1924 in Allenton, Pennsylvania USA, who is probably best known for leading the design of Ford Mustang and Pinto cars during the 1960s, and later for reviving the Chrysler Corporation as its CEO during the 1980s.
Have you ever wondered how rich Lee Iacocca is? According to sources it has been estimated that Lee Iacocca’s overall net worth is $100 million, as of mid-2016. Iacocca accumulated his wealth primarily as the Ford company president, and later as the CEO and chairman of the Chrysler Corporation. He is one of the most successful businessmen in the automobile industry, a title which his net worth proves.
Lee Iacocca Net Worth $100 Million
Lee was born to Italian immigrants, and due to health problems caused by rheumatic fever during his childhood, he was unfit for military service in World War II, so during the war he attended Lehigh University as an undergraduate and later received a master’s degree in engineering from Princeton University. His degree helped earn him a job at the Ford Motor Company in 1946, where he started by excelling in engineering, and later transferred to work in product development. Iacocca managed to advance in the company, eventually becoming the vice-president and general manager of the Ford division by 1960. One of his most significant achievements was bringing Mustang to the market in 1964. Lee became Ford’s president in 1970, but due to disagreements with Henry Ford II, the chairman of the company, he was fired eight years later in 1978. Regardless, he had established a solid base to his net worth.
A few months later, due to his experience, Iacocca was hired to head the Chrysler Corporation, which was in danger of bankruptcy at the time. It was under his leadership that Chrysler received $1.5 billion in federal loan guarantees which, at the time, was the largest amount of government assistance ever to be received by a private company. Lee added the popular minivan to the Chrysler vehicle lineup, while serving as a spokesman in television ads which skillfully promoted the company. By 1981, the Chrysler Company had edged into profitability, and repaid its loans two years later. Thanks to Iacocca’s tenure, Chrysler made more than $2.4 billion in 1984, which was a record for the corporation. His success in reviving Chrysler made him a national celebrity, and even president Ronald Reagan asked him to help co-ordinate fund-raising for the renovation of the Statue of Liberty.
Lee retired from Chrysler in 1992, and was then able to devote himself to The Iacocca Foundation which supports diabetes research, established following his first wife’s suffering and death from the disease.
He again appeared in Chrysler’s ads in 2005 with Jason Alexander and Snoop Dogg, sending the profit he earned to his foundation. Lee is still a supporter of the US car industry, although his frustration with public and private leadership led to him writing the book called “Where Have All the Leaders Gone?” in 2007. Two other books that he previously wrote, his autobiography “Iacocca”(1984) and “Talking Straght”(1988) both became best-sellers, adding to his net worth.
When it comes to his private life, Iacocca lost his first wife, Mary in 1983, and has married twice since then, to Peggy Johnson (1986-87) and Darrien Earle (1991-94). He has two daughters from his first marriage.
