Kerkorian Presses Chrysler On Wider Role for Iacocca

• Published in: The Wall Street journal Asia
• Main Author: By Bradley A. Stertz and Pauline Yoshihashi
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Victoria, Hong Kong Dow Jones & Company Inc 10.08.1992
• Subjects: Boards of directors; Chairman of the board; Executives; Proxy statements
• ISSN: 0377-9920

Los Angeles billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, Chrysler's largest shareholder and a friend of Mr. Iacocca's, is seeking a meeting with Chrysler's directors to assure a continued major role for Mr. Iacocca. If the board insists on paring back Mr. Iacocca's influence, Mr. Kerkorian indicated in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, he may demand representation for himself on the board. Some persons close to the situation believe Mr. Kerkorian may be acting at the direct or implied request of Mr. Iacocca. The two men recently visited Barcelona, Spain, aboard Mr. Kerkorian's yacht to attend the Olympic Games. What's more, Mr. Kerkorian's action comes just weeks after Mr. Iacocca told Chrysler's directors that he wanted to remain as chairman of the company's powerful executive committee into the mid-1990s. The directors retorted that for Mr. Iacocca to stay so long was out of the question. And since then, Mr. Iacocca has complained to friends that he is being treated shabbily by the board.