Jerry York | |
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| Born | Jerome Bailey York (1938-06-22)June 22, 1938[1] Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | March 18, 2010(2010-03-18) (aged 71)[1] Pontiac, Michigan, U.S. |
| Alma mater | United States Military Academy atWest Point University of Michigan Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Jerome Bailey York (June 22, 1938 – March 18, 2010), commonly known asJerry York, was an American businessman, and the chairman,president and CEO of Harwinton Capital. He was the former CFO ofIBM[1] andChrysler, and was CEO ofMicro Warehouse. He was a chief aide toKirk Kerkorian and hisTracinda investment company.[1] In February 2006, Kerkorian helped elect York to the board of directors ofGeneral Motors, from which he had previously resigned.[1]
York was born inMemphis, Tennessee, in 1938[1] and lived in Oakland Township, Michigan. He earned degrees from theUnited States Military Academy atWest Point,[1] theMassachusetts Institute of Technology,[1] and theUniversity of Michigan'sRoss School of Business,[1] and was trained as an engineer. A gymnastics injury prevented York from serving in the military.[2]
York eventually became the CFO at Chrysler. WhenLee Iacocca retired as Chrysler CEO in 1992, York was a leading candidate to succeed him.[3] After being passed over as Chrysler CEO, York became CFO ofIBM Corporation. He later served as a special adviser to investorKirk Kerkorian during Kerkorian's 2007 failed takeover bid for Chrysler and his other investments in Ford Motor Company and General Motors, where he previously served as a board member from February to October 2006 before resigning over frustration resulting from GM's failure to distribute materials to the board in advance of its meetings and a reluctance to implement change recommendations, including the shedding of peripheral brands,[4] which GM ultimately affected during bankruptcy in the form of terminating the Pontiac, Saturn, andHummer brands (after a failed sale attempt to Chinese Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery) and the sale of its SAAB division toSpyker Cars.[5]
From 1999 to 2003, York was chairman and CEO of Micro Warehouse,[6] which went bankrupt. He was also on the board ofApple Inc. afterSteve Jobs' comeback in 1997.[7]
York was also an enthusiast of alternative energy, particularly wind energy. He was the CFO and a member of the board at USWind, a wind energy company of which he was a co-founder and active management team member. York believed that moving the turbine from adjacent to the blades to on the ground, by using a series of conveyor belts, would significantly increase height, decrease weight, and improve efficiency of wind power generation.
York was also part of a team developing the next generation portable computer.
York was hospitalized on March 17, 2010, after collapsing in his suburban Detroit home from abrain aneurysm.[8] He died the next day.[1]
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