Former Chrysler Chiefs Defend Deal As Merger Of Equals

Also:

http://www.autonews.com/news.cms?newsId=7193
....Speaking under oath in a trial here Thursday afternoon, Eaton, who
was then co-chairman of the newly created parent company,
DaimlerChrysler AG, said that Stallkamp had "bad chemistry" with
Schrempp. Eaton himself asked the DaimlerChrysler supervisory board in
Germany to replace Stallkamp, Eaton admitted. ....


http://www.autonews.com/news.cms?newsId=7180
....former Chrysler Chief Financial Officer Jerome York.

York, who left Chrysler in 1993, is emerging in testimonies, depositions
and attorney questioning as a shrewd strategist who prophesied trouble
for his former employer, and then quietly moved behind the scenes to
bring Daimler and Chrysler together before it was too late....York was
tapped as vice-chairman of Tracinda in 1995, after leaving Chrysler for
IBM. To recruit him, Kerkorian gave him a $1 million-a-year base salary,
then paid him a $26 million signing bonus, and then for reasons
Kerkorian now says he cannot recall, paid him an additional $40 million,
according to testimony this week from a Tracinda executive....

Fascinating stuff if you've been following the merger since '98.

--Geoff