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Lee Iacocca (Lido Anthony Iacocca)[I´´ukO´ku] Pronunciation Key, 1924–, American business executive, b. Allentown, Pa. In 1946 he joined the Ford Motor Company, where he rose to president (1970–78). He left the company after a dispute with Henry Ford II and became president (1978) and then chairman (1979) of the Chrysler Corp., restoring it through shrewd financial policies, a $1.2 billion loan guarantee, and tax concessions granted by Congress. In the 1980s, he also served as chairman of the Statue of Liberty–Ellis Island Foundation and engineered Chrysler's $1.5 billion acquisition of American Motors. Iacocca retired at the end of 1992, but in 1995 he aided billionaire Kirk Kerkorian in his unsuccessful attempt to win control of Chrysler.
See his autobiography, written with W. Novak (1984); P. Wyden, The Unknown Iacocca (1987); D. P. Levin, Behind the Wheel at Chrysler (1995).
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