Chapter 1 Summary and Analysis

Lee Iacocca was born Lido Anthony Iacocca on October 15, 1924. His parents Nicola and Antoinette were Italian immigrants. His father, Nicola, owned The Orpheum Weiner House in Allentwon, Pennsylvania, where Lee grew up. Lee owned a small-sandwich shop called The Four Chefs in 1952. The restaurant did well but he had to sell it because it moved him into a higher tax bracket.

Lee decided to work in the auto industry at the age of fifteen.

The Iacocca family prospered in the 1920s, but then lost almost everything during the Depression in the 1930s. Because of this, Lee decided at an early age that he wanted to be wealthy.

Lee was greatly influenced by his father and the Depression when he was growing up.