Joseph J. Grano, JR. is chairman and CEO of Centurion Holdings LLC, a company that advises private and public companies. From 2001-2004, Grano was chairman of UBS Financial Services, Inc. (formerly UBS PaineWebber). Having joined the company in 1988, Grano is credited for turning PaineWebber around and shepherding its merger with Swiss banking giant UBS. Grano began his career as a stock broker at Merrill Lynch, where he rose to various senior management positions over sixteen years. He was also chairman of the Board of Governors of the NASD. A decorated war hero, Grano was chosen by the White House to be chairman of the President's Homeland Security Advisory Council after 9/11, a position… he held from 2002-2005. The recipient of countless awards for leadership, civic contributions, as well as honorary degrees, he is involved in a wide range of educational and philanthropic endeavors. Grano is also a producer of the Tony Award-winning Broadway smash Jersey Boys.For more information, please visitwww.Joe-Grano.com.Mark Levine has written and collaborated on more than thirty books, including the bestsellers Second Acts, Die Broke, and Lifescripts, as well as hundreds of magazine articles. He lives in Ithaca, New York.
Lee Iacocca was born Lido Anthony Iacocca in 1924 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. he attended Lehigh University as well as Princeton, receiving degrees in industrial engineering and mechanical engineering. In 1946, Iacocca got a job working for Ford Motor Company as an engineering trainee. He switched to sales and in 1953, had worked his way up to assistant sales manager of the Philadelphia district. Three years later he was named sales manager in Washington D. C., and by 1960 he had succeeded Robert S. McNamara as Vice President and General Manager. In 1964, Iacocca developed the Ford Mustang, which was wildly popular, and later introduced the Mercury Cougar and the Lincoln Mark III. Finally… in 1970, Iacocca reached the top and was crowned President of Ford. Eight years later he was fired due to the tense relationship between him and Henry Ford II, and was quickly snatched up as President and Chief Executive Officer at Chrysler Corporation. Chrysler was a failing industry at this point, much in debt, but Iacocca managed to turn the company around, cutting costs, getting federal assistance, introducing new cars that sold amazingly well, such as the K-car, and repaying all of the loans in five years. In 1984, Chrysler introduced Iacocca's Chrysler Minivan, which became one of the best selling vehicles in North America. Iacocca retired in 1992 but remained the head of Chrysler's executive committee. He has written two best selling books, "Iacocca: An Autobiography" in 1984, and "Talking Straight" in 1988.