Former Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca dies at age 94

Lee Iacocca, the former CEO of Chrysler who pulled the struggling company back from the brink of failure, has died. He was 94. Two former Chrysler executives who worked with Iacocca said a close associate of the family told them Tuesday of his death at his home in Bel Air, Calif. Iacocca had battled Parkinson’s disease in recent years, but former Chrysler company spokesman Bud Liebler said he didn’t know what caused his death.

Iacocca worked in the automobile industry for decades and wrote two best-selling books and was courted for a presidential run in the 1980s. But he was best-known for turning Chrysler around. The company was $5 billion in debt in 1978 when Iacocca was hired and persuaded the U.S. government to approve $1.5 billion in loan guarantees that kept the automaker afloat. He became the face of the brand in the 1980s, often appearing in television commercials promoting Chrysler vehicles, including the innovative K car and the minivan, which he helped introduce to the U.S. auto market. Iacocca retired from Chrysler in 1992. Earlier in his career, he filled multiple executive positions at Ford, where he helped launch the Mustang in 1964.