Walter Chrysler

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Walter Percy Chrysler (April 2, 1875 – August 18, 1940) was an American automotive industry executive and founder of Chrysler Corporation, now a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

Early life

Chrysler was born in Wamego, Kansas, the son of Anna Maria Chrysler (née Breymann) and Henry Chrysler. He grew up in Ellis, Kansas, where today his boyhood home is a museum. His father was born in Chatham, Ontario, in 1850 and immigrated to the United States after 1858. A Freemason, Chrysler began his career as a machinist and railroad mechanic in Ellis. He took correspondence courses from International Correspondence Schools in Scranton, Pennsylvania, earning a mechanical degree from the correspondence program.

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Railroad career

As a machinist and railroad mechanic, a Chrysler apprentice worked in Ellis' train shops. He spent a period of years in the west, serving on several railroads as a good at valve-setting mechanics. Chrysler moved frequently, first to Wellington, Kansas, in 1897, then to Denver, Colorado for two weeks, and then Cheyenne, Wyoming. While some of his moves were purely due to hunger and a quick temper, his roaming was also a way to get more well-rounded in his railroading knowledge. He worked his way up into positions such as foreman, Colorado, superintendent, division chief mechanic, and general master mechanic.

Chrysler worked for the Fort Worth and Denver Railway in Childress, West Texas, from 1905 to 1906. He later lived and worked in Oelwein, Iowa, at the Chicago Great Western's main shops, where there is a small park dedicated to him.

He began working at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he became the general manager of the Allegheny locomotive erecting shops of the American Locomotive Company (Alco). Chrysler lived in Bellevue, the first town outside of Pittsburgh on the north side of the Ohio River, when residing in Pittsburgh.

Automotive career

In 1911, Chrysler's automobile career began when he was summoned to speak with James J. Storrow, a banker who was a director of Alco. Storrow wondered if he had given any thought to automobile manufacture. By then, Chrysler had been a car enthusiast for more than five years and was genuinely curious. Storrow arranged a meeting with Charles W. Nash, then president of Buick Motor Company, who was searching for a smart production chief. Chrysler, who had resigned from many railroading positions over the years, resigned as works manager (in charge of manufacturing) at Buick in Flint, Michigan. He found several ways to lower the cost of production, including reducing the costs of producing such as ending the finishing process on automobile undercarriages with the same high quality finish as the body.

William C. Durant, who founded GM in 1908, had retaken GM from bankers who had taken over the operation. Chrysler, a closely linked banker, resigned to Durant, who was then based in New York City.

Durant took the first train to Flint to try to keep Chrysler at the helm of Buick. Durant made the then-unheard of salary offer of US$10,000 ($250,000) per month for three years, netting a US$500,000 ($12.5 million) bonus at the end of each year, or US$500,000 in stock. In addition, Chrysler will notify Durant directly, and Buick will have a complete run of Buick without interruption from anyone. Chrysler begged Durant to repeat the offer, which he did. Chrysler was accepted right away.

Buick has been running Buick for three years. He resigned from his position as president of Buick in 1919, not long after his three-year tenure was up. Durant did not agree with Durant's vision for the future of GM. Durant spent Chrysler US$10 million for his GM shares. Chrysler had begun working at Buick in 1911 for $6,000 ($160,000) per year, making him one of the country's richest men. A protege who had risen through the ranks at the Weston-Mott axle manufacturing plant and then became a Buick affiliate, replacing Chrysler with Harry H. Bassett.

Chrysler was hired to try a bounce back by bankers who foresaw the loss of their Willys-Overland Motor Company in Toledo, Ohio, Ohio. He wished and received a two-year salary, an incredible amount at that time. In 1921, Chrysler acquired a majority interest in the ailing Maxwell Motor Company, despite a failed attempt to regain control from John Willys. In 1925, Chrysler phased out Maxwell and absorbed it into his current company, the Chrysler Corporation in Detroit, Michigan. In addition to his namesake car business, Plymouth and DeSoto were established in 1928, Chrysler acquired Dodge Brothers and renamed it Dodge. He paid for the construction of the Chrysler Building in New York City, which was completed in 1930. For 1928, Chrysler was named Man of the Year by Time magazine.

In 1967, he was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame.

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