Who is Lee Iacocca?

Born October 15, 1924) is an American businessman known for engineering the Ford Mustang and Ford Pinto cars, being let go from Ford Motor Company, and his revival of the Chrysler Corporation in the 1980s. 1 He served as President and CEO of Chrysler from 1978 and additionally as chairman from 1979, until his retirement at the end of October 15, 19248. One of the most famous business people in the worldcitation needed, Iacocca was a passionate advocate of U.S. business exports during the 1980s.

He is the author (or co-author) of several books, including Iacocca: An Autobiography (with William Novak), and Where Have All the Leaders Gone? Portfolio named Iacocca the 18th-greatest American CEO of all time. Iacocca was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania to Nicola Iacocca and Antonietta Perrotta, Italian immigrants (from San Marco dei Cavoti, Benevento) who had settled in Pennsylvania's steel-making belt.

They operated a restaurant, Yocco's Hot Dogs. He was said to have been christened with the unusual name "Lido" because he was conceived during his parents' honeymoon in the Lido district in Venice, however, he refutes this rumor in his autobiography, saying that is romantic but not true: his father went to Lido long before his marriage and was traveling with his future wife's brother. Iacocca graduated from Allentown High School (now known as William Allen High School) in 1942, and Lehigh University in neighboring Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with a degree in industrial engineering.

He is a member of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society, and an alumnus of Theta Chi Fraternity. After graduating from Lehigh, he won the Wallace Memorial Fellowship and went to Princeton University, where he took his electives in politics and plastics.