Joseph E. Cappy

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Joseph E. Cappy
Born
Joseph E. Capizzi

(1934-05-13) May 13, 1934 (age 89)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison
Occupation
Years active1956–2003
Spouse
  • Carol Fedderly
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1954; death 1989)​

    Patricia Duffy Harper
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1990)​
Children4

Joseph E. Cappy (born May 13, 1934) is an American business executive who was the final president and chief executive officer of American Motors Corporation and the first president and CEO of the Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group.

Early life[edit]

Cappy was born on May 13, 1934, in Chicago to George Antoinetta (Mele) Cappy.[1] The family was of Italian descent and changed their surname from Capizzi to Cappy, which his father felt was more "business-like". George Cappy worked in the retail business in Chicago until 1948, when he purchased a small department store in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. Cappy graduated from Wisconsin Dells High School in 1952 and received a degree in marketing and accounting from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1956. He was a member of the UW-Madison Reserve Officers' Training Corps and served six months of active duty at Fort Eustis followed by seven-and-a-half years in the United States Army Reserve.[1]

Career[edit]

Ford[edit]

Cappy joined Ford Motor Company in 1956 as an accountant for the Edsel brand.[1] After the Edsel division folded, he was marketing plans manager of custom cars and light trucks. From 1969 to 1971, Cappy was Ford's Detroit district general field sales manager. He next worked as a special recreational vehicles projects manager and was a recreational products sales manager from 1972 to 1973. Cappy then spent a year on the marketing staff of the sales planning office. From 1974 to 1977, he was Ford's district sales manager in Louisville, Kentucky. He then moved to the marketing department of the Lincoln–Mercury division, where he became general marketing manager in 1980.[2]

American Motors Corporation[edit]

In 1982, he joined the American Motors Corporation as vice president of marketing.[3] In 1985, he was promoted to executive vice president of operations, which put him in charge of manufacturing and supply.[4] He was elected to the company's board of directors later that same year.[5]

On March 23, 1986, Cappy was named president and chief executive officer of American Motors.[6] On March 9, 1987, Chrysler purchased AMC for about $1.5 billion ($4,022,847,100 in 2023 dollars[7]).[8]

Chrysler[edit]

Cappy joined Chrysler following the sale as group vice president of the Jeep-Eagle division.[9] In 1989, he was named Chrysler's vice president of brand development.[10] The following year he became the company's vice president of international operations.[11]

Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group[edit]

As part of a corporate reshuffling following the retirement of Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca, Cappy became the head of the company's car rental subsidiaries, which included Thrifty Car Rental and Dollar Rent A Car, and its defense and electronics operation, Chrysler Technologies.[12] In 1997, Chrysler spun of its car rental subsidiary into a separate company - the Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group.[13] Cappy was chairman and CEO of Dollar Thrifty until his retirement in 2003.[14]

Personal life[edit]

Cappy's first wife, Carol, died in 1989 at the age of 54.[15] On March 10, 1990, he married Patricia Duffy Harper in Detroit.[16] In 1994, the Cappys moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma after Chrysler relocated its car rental operations there.[1][17] From 2000 to 2005, Cappy was a member of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.[18][19]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Joe Cappy President of American Motors, CEO of Dollar Thrifty Car Rental". Voices of Oklahoma. Oklahoma Historical Society. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
  2. ^ "The Men In Charge". The Milwaukee Journal. March 9, 1987.
  3. ^ "Armstrong World Says Chairman Will Retire". Wall Street Journal. February 23, 1982.
  4. ^ "American Motors Corp". Wall Street Journal. June 24, 1985.
  5. ^ "American Motors Corp". Wall Street Journal. September 23, 1985.
  6. ^ "AMC Names Joseph Cappy President, Chief". The Wall Street Journal. March 24, 1986.
  7. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  8. ^ Schlesinger, Jacob (March 10, 1987). "Chrysler to Buy Renault's Stake In AMC; Seeks Rest of Company". The Wall Street Journal.
  9. ^ "What Happened to AMC's Executives". The Washington Post. November 22, 1987.
  10. ^ Patterson, Gregory (November 7, 1989). "Chrysler Reorganizes Marketing Lines, Ends Structure as a Holding Company". The Wall Street Journal.
  11. ^ Guiles, Melinda Grenier; Carnevale, Mary Lu (May 15, 1990). "Black & Decker Is Said to Pick Hammes of Chrysler to Lead Power-Tool Division". The Wall Street Journal.
  12. ^ Naughton, Keith (June 11, 1993). "Management deck shuffled at Chrysler". Detroit News.
  13. ^ Phillips, Dave (November 7, 1997). "Chrysler to unload Thrifty, Dollar rentals". Detroit News.
  14. ^ "Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Announces Key Leadership Changes; Paxton Named President and CEO". F&I Magazine. September 26, 2003. Archived from the original on August 31, 2017. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  15. ^ "Carol Cappy". Toledo Blade. January 13, 1989. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
  16. ^ "Harper-Cappy" (PDF). Grosse Point News. April 19, 1990. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
  17. ^ Maurer, Mitch (January 29, 1994). "Chrysler puts exec in Tulsa". Tulsa World.
  18. ^ Weaver, Heath (February 2, 2000). "Joseph Cappy named for state regents post". Tulsa World.
  19. ^ "OK State Regents for Higher Education swears in new member". Journal Record. June 2, 2005.
Business positions
Preceded by President and CEO of the American Motors Corporation
1986–1987 		Succeeded by
Position eliminated
Preceded by
Position created
 President and CEO of the Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group
1997–2003 		Succeeded by
Gary L. Paxton
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