Oct 9, 2026 · 39 min · 11 segments
Send us Fan Mail Explore the remarkable story of Lee Iacocca—the auto executive behind the Ford Mustang, Chrysler’s historic turnaround, and the…
So Lee was born in 1924, which was not exactly a relaxing time to enter the group chat.
He grew up during the Great Depression, and by the time he was in college, World War II was consuming the country.
Those kinds of events tend to shape a person pretty quickly.
He was an only child and very close with his parents, Nicola and Antoinette, both Italian immigrants.
Nicola was a hardworking, sharp businessman, but he lost everything during the Depression.
That experience stuck with Lee.
His dad taught him two big rules.
One, don't spend more than you have.
And two, if you borrow money, pay it back as fast as humanly possible.
Which,
if you know anything about Lee's career, is basically foreshadowing with a giant neon sign on top of it.
And we'll see later just how much that advice shaped the way Lee handled business, and especially the way he handled debt.
Lee did great in school and stayed busy outside the classroom too.
In his autobiography, he said a lot of his boardroom success came from being student body president and a debate team member.
He learned how to communicate an idea, sell it to people, and deal with a constituency.
Which is a very polished way of saying he got really good at convincing a room full of people that his idea was the one worth doing.
You know, I was student body president in sixth grade.
Dude, that's cool.
What was your platform? I honestly don't remember.
I just really wanted to be school president, you know? I made a bunch of cool posters that I drew up myself and hung them up around the school.
Nice.
Think about it now.
I have absolutely no idea how I even won.
The people saw the poster and said, that's our guy.
Democracy at work.
So Lee was born in 1924, which was not exactly a relaxing time to enter the group chat.
He grew up during the Great Depression, and by the time he was in college, World War II was consuming the country.
Those kinds of events tend to shape a person pretty quickly.
He was an only child and very close with his parents, Nicola and Antoinette, both Italian immigrants.
Nicola was a hardworking, sharp businessman, but he lost everything during the Depression.
That experience stuck with Lee.
His dad taught him two big rules.
One, don't spend more than you have.
And two, if you borrow money, pay it back as fast as humanly possible.
Which,
if you know anything about Lee's career, is basically foreshadowing with a giant neon sign on top of it.
And we'll see later just how much that advice shaped the way Lee handled business, and especially the way he handled debt.
Lee did great in school and stayed busy outside the classroom too.
In his autobiography, he said a lot of his boardroom success came from being student body president and a debate team member.
He learned how to communicate an idea, sell it to people, and deal with a constituency.
Which is a very polished way of saying he got really good at convincing a room full of people that his idea was the one worth doing.
You know, I was student body president in sixth grade.
Dude, that's cool.
What was your platform? I honestly don't remember.
I just really wanted to be school president, you know? I made a bunch of cool posters that I drew up myself and hung them up around the school.
Nice.
Think about it now.
I have absolutely no idea how I even won.
The people saw the poster and said, that's our guy.
Democracy at work.
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