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Purpose and benefits

The lionisation of chief executive officers began in earnest with Lee Iacocca. In the 1980s his remarkable turnaround of car giant Chrysler made him a corporate hero and a role model for aspiring American managers everywhere. Iacocca always claimed he wasn’t a natural salesman, but he certainly had a raw talent, and he made a big impact at Ford with his revolutionary financing plan. As general manager of Ford division, he introduced the Ford Mustang, and was promoted to president of the company in 1970. After an internal power struggle, instigated by Henry Ford II, Iacocca was fired from Ford in 1978. He switched sides, joining Chrysler and becoming CEO in 1979. At Chrysler he engineered one of the biggest corporate turnarounds ever. He retired from Chrysler in 1992, but retained his interest in the motor industry as the force behind EV Global Motors.