April 2: Walter P. Chrysler was born on this date in 1875

On this date — April 2, 1875 — Walter Percy Chrysler was born. Chrysler began his career as a railroad mechanic, but in 1911 was hired as production manager for Buick Motor Cars and soon became Buick's general manager for a salary of $10,000 plus half a million dollars per year in stock options, which he eventually sold back to General Motors for $10 million. Chrysler left Buick to run Willys-Overland for $1 million per year, and was one of the wealthiest men in America when he founded Chrysler Corporation in 1925.