In the 1990s, Chrysler emerged as a leader in the automotive industry.  Chrysler minivan and Jeep sales allowed the company to become the country’s third largest auto company.  Chrysler’s profitability attracted the interest of Daimler-Benz AG, makers of the Mercedes-Benz brand.

On this day, May 7th, in 1998, Chrysler was purchased by Daimler-Benz AG for $36 billion.  Benz’s purchase of Chrysler marked the largest acquisition by a foreign buyer of any U.S. company in history.  The new company took on the name DaimlerChrysler AG.  Although the merger was marketed as a pairing of equal powers, Daimler-Benz established itself as the dominant partner, owning the majority of the company’s shares.  The first months of DaimlerChrysler AG were marked with success, but the company would soon decline.

Although DaimlerChrysler AG shares reached a high of $108.62 shortly after the merger, but in the following years Chrysler’s sales and profits slowly declined.  In 2003, Chrysler was forced to cut more than 25,000 jobs and the company’s fate worsened with a $1.5 billion loss in 2006.  DaimlerChrysler eventually sold 80% of its Chrysler shares in 2007 to the private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management for $7.4 billion.