Chrysler, Walter Percy (1875–1940)

US industrialist. After World War I, he became president of the independent Maxwell Motor Company and went on to found the Chrysler Corporation in 1925. By 1928 he had acquired Dodge and Plymouth, making Chrysler Corporation one of the largest US motor-vehicle manufacturers.

Chrysler was born in Wamego, Kansas. He worked first as a railway machinist, rising through the ranks to become manager of the American Locomotive Company in Pittsburgh in 1912. Shifting to the car industry, he was hired by General Motors and was appointed president of the Buick division in 1916.

In November 1998, the Chrysler company and Germany's DaimlerBenz finalized their $42 billion deal that created DaimlerChrysler, the fifth largest car company in the world. Daimler held 58% of the new company and Chrysler had 42%.