Filed under: Government/Legal, Chrysler, Earnings/Financials
Even more terrifying tales of the automotive bailout are emerging from Steven Rattner’s new book. CNN Money reports that, according to the text, Chrysler had an even rougher go of things than General Motors. Rattner, who served as the head of the automotive task force, writes that after congress failed to give Chrysler the $7 billion in funding that the company originally asked for, executives began to scramble to find other ways to keep the operation afloat. That includes Pentastar boss Bob Nardelli asking the United States Treasury to force General Motors to buy Chrysler. After it was determined that the vast amounts of overlap between the two companies would make a merger impossible, things got even more bizarre.
According to Rattner’s book, Steve Feinberg of Chrysler parent company Cerberus Capital offered the carmaker to the treasury department for $1. The treasury thought the offer was a joke, partially because Feinberg made the suggestion to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson during a 2:00 AM phone call. Less than a month later, President Bush signed off on $17.4 billion in TARP money for GM and Chrysler. Thanks for the tip, Ollie!
[Source: CNN Money | Image: Chip Somodevilla/Getty]
Report: Nardelli almost sold Chrysler to U.S. for $1 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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