Before Walter Percy Chrysler acquired a controlling interest in the Maxwell Motor Company — which was failing and became integrated into a company he founded that eventually became known as the Chrysler Corporation — he was hired as the chief of production of the Buick Motor Company in 1912.
Chrysler became a very wealthy man as a result of being involved in some shrewd deals that expanded his company to include Plymouth and DeSoto — in addition to the acquisition of Dodge Brothers in 1928 — which led to his company becoming one of the big three automakers in Detroit to rival General Motors and Ford.