biography
| name: |
Willys, John N(orth)
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1873–1935)
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| biography:
| Industrialist, born in Canandaigua, New York, USA. He attempted law, but preferred business, and in 1897 bought a factory in Elmira, NY, where he specialized in bicycles. Successful, he organized a car sales company and bought out the Overland Co (1907) in Indiana, moved it to an abandoned factory in Toledo, OH, and by 1910 had produced and sold 18 200 Willys-Overland cars. In 1919 he organized the Willys Corp, a short-lived holding company, but financial troubles in the car business forced its liquidation in 1921. Having sold his Willys-Overland Co stock for $25 million in 1929, he became US ambassador to Poland (1930–2). In 1933 his financially troubled car company went into receivership with Willys as receiver and president. He died suddenly without resolving the company's finances. |
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