Takeover Fight Dulled His Luster, but He’s Still Iacocca : Image: Ex-associates disliked his support of Chrysler offer. But his achievements stand, analyst says.

Once regarded as a corporate savior who could do little wrong, former Chrysler Corp. Chairman Lee Iacocca has emerged from the takeover fight with the auto maker with his reputation bruised--but still intact.

The 70-year-old retired executive surprised and angered many former associates by pledging his $50 million in Chrysler stock as a part of the buyout offer from financier Kirk Kerkorian. Adding to the injury, Iacocca chastised his hand-picked successor, Robert J. Eaton, for not doing enough to improve the quality of the company’s car and truck lines.

“People in Detroit--and particularly at Chrysler--feel betrayed,” said David M. Garrity, automotive industry analyst at Smith Barney. But, he added, the takeover effort does “not take anything away from [Iacocca’s] past achievements, which were certainly substantial.”

Those achievements include saving Chrysler from bankruptcy by lining up government-backed loans. His fame was further enhanced by two successful books and by raising substantial funds to renovate the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in the mid-1980s.

However, Iacocca tarnished his own reputation as a corporate leader by several missteps, among them his reluctance to leave Chrysler gracefully. He agreed to retire several years ago only under pressure from the company’s board of directors.

“The leaders that organizations need are the ones who put the well-being of the organization above their own personal pride and ego,” said Jean Lipman-Blumen, professor of organizational behavior at Claremont Graduate School. “This maneuver on Iacocca’s part puts a real shadow over that. It made him look like a leader who doesn’t know when to step aside.”