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Frank Stronach
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He was a tool and die apprentice who left
war-ravaged Austria in 1954 with a one-way boat ticket and
$40 in his pocket. In 1957, after three years of picking
up golf balls, washing dishes in a hospital and working as
a machinist, Stronach and his friend Tony Czapka opened their
own tool and die business. By 1959, Stronach and business
partner Burt Pabst acquired their first auto parts contract
- 300,000 sun visor brackets for General Motors. As
a result of the 1965 Auto Pact and Stronach's business savvy,
more than 40 years later Magna International is a global automotive
empire that employs 50,000 people and sells $14 billion in
auto parts. Last year alone, Stronach himself made over
$26 million.
From the very beginning, Stronach believed every employee
should own a part of the company and they do, making Magna
a unique model of success. Without the benefit of unions,
all employees enjoy job security, benefits, pensions, competitive
wage packages averaged to the competition and a share in corporate
profits.
Stronach's passion for taking risks also led him into federal
politics in 1988 as a Liberal candidate and into the world
of horse breeding. Though his political bid was unsuccessful,
Stronach saw his horse-breeding venture soar: the company
owned by Stronach and his son Andy has become one of the largest
and most successful horse breeders in North America, worth
more than $100 million.
Original Air Date - Janaury 11, 2000
Links
Magna
Adena
Springs Farms
Frank
Stronach bio
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