Auto industry titan and prominent business figure Lee Iacocca has died at the age of 94.
Iacocca died from Parkinson’s disease-related complications Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles, according to his daughter.
Iacocca is credited with saving Chrysler from bankruptcy after taking the helm as chairman of the company. He successfully persuaded Congress to approve federal loan guarantees up to $1.5 billion in 1980, essentially reviving the company.
Prior to joining Chrysler, Iacocca worked at Ford Motor Company where he is credited with being a major figure in the development of the Ford Mustang. Iacocca began work at Ford in 1946 and was named president of the company in 1970 before being ousted by Henry Ford Jr. in 1978.
The child of Italian immigrants, Iacocca was born in Pennsylvania in 1924 and worked his way up to the forefront of America’s auto industry, retiring from Chrysler in 1992.
In the mid-1980s he was ranked third in a Gallup poll of America’s most respected men, eclipsed only by President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II.
