Lee Iacocca, the celebrity CEO who steered Ford and Chrysler, dies at 94

Iacocca arguably ushered in the era of the celebrity auto executive, with others such as Sergio Marchionne, Elon Musk and Carlos Ghosn following in his footsteps.

Lee Iacocca, the U.S. auto official and TV pitchman whose vibe for buyers’ changing tastes helped produce the Ford Mustang and the Chrysler minivan and made him one of the first celebrity CEOs, has died.. He was 94.

His death was caused by complications from Parkinson’s disease, the Washington Post said, citing his daughter Lia Iacocca Assad.

Born Lido Anthony Iacocca in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on October 15, 1924, to Italian immigrant parents, he would go on to lead two major American car companies.

After being fired in a dispute with company heir Henry Ford II, Iacocca joined the then-struggling Chrysler. Using both his business skills and ability to turn a phrase, he won federal loan guarantees that helped the automaker avoid a potential 1980 bankruptcy.

In the 1970s and ’80s, with Detroit still dominating the nation’s automobile market, his name evoked images of executive suites, infighting, power plays and the grit and savvy to sell American cars. He was so widely admired that there was serious talk of his running for president of the United States in 1988.

Detractors branded him a Machiavellian huckster who clawed his way to pinnacles of power in 32 years at Ford, building flashy cars like the Mustang, making the covers of Time and Newsweek and becoming the company president at 46, only to be spectacularly fired in 1978 by the founder’s grandson, Henry Ford II.