Walter P. Chrysler: 1928
The founder and first president of the Chrysler Corporation, Chrysler was TIME's Man of the Year of 1928. For Chrysler, the year was one that TIME called "twelve months of extraordinary activity. From motor man with one product, he had become one of the chief U.S. industrialists. Undeniably, he had been the outstanding businessman of the year."
In 1928 Chrysler offered to the market the Plymouth automobile, acquired the Dodge Brothers Company, added the DeSoto to his line, and introduced a new line of commercial cars. And to top it all off, he announced that he was going to build the Chrysler Building, still impressive today, which was to be the world's tallest skyscraper until trumped almost immediately by the Empire State Building. "I like to build things," TIME quoted him as saying. "I like to do things. I am having a lot of fun..."
Researched by Joan Levinstein, the Time Inc. Research Center