TIMOTHY LEULIETTE:
 
TIMOTHY LEULIETTE




 
 
 
 
 
Executive Chairman of Dura Automotive Systems in Rochester Hills and Managing Director of Patriarch Partners of New York. Patriarch Partners is an investment firm managing $7 billion in invested capital, and Dura is Patriarch’s largest investment. Leuliette had been chairman, president, and CEO of Dura Automotive where he was brought in to rebuild and revitalize the company, helping it emerge from bankruptcy and eventually an acquisition, and return to profitability. Dura, with revenue of $1.7 billion, operates in 16 countries and employs 9,000. Prior to Dura, Leuliette was co-chief executive officer of Japan-based Asahi Tec Corp. and chairman and CEO of its subsidiary Metaldyne Corp., a company he co-founded in 2000. Metaldyne was sold to Asahi Tec in 2007. Leuliette was the first American to hold a CEO position in a large, publicly held Japanese company. Earlier, Leuliette was president and COO of Penske Corp. Prior to Penske, he was president and CEO of the $5 billion ITT Automotive Group, and senior vice president of ITT Industries Inc., responsible for consolidating over a decade of acquisitions and establishing core businesses that resulted in building ITT Automotive into a large, profitable, global company. Before ITT, Leuliette was president and CEO of Siemens Automotive L.P., a member of its managing board, and a corporate vice president of Siemens AG -- the first non-German to hold this level of authority in the firm’s 143-year history. Leuliette has been called upon to work as a director for companies facing distress, such as Libby Owens Ford after its acquisition by Pilkington, and Collins & Aikman where he chaired the board’s restructuring committee and oversaw the firm that implemented reorganization. Leuliette serves on numerous boards including Business Leaders for Michigan, Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital, and the Vattikuti Urology Institute of Henry Ford Health System, He is a past chairman of the board of the Detroit Branch of The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA from the University of Michigan.


WHERE BORN: “Clarksburg, W.V.”

MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSONS: “My father, who was a very hard-working, just salt-of-the-earth kind of guy. He did a solid day’s work for a solid day’s pay. He had more friends than most people had acquaintances. He’s a great role model.”

LAST BOOK READ: “Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight by Karl Rove.”

WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ME: “Intense; driven; work hard, play hard.”

WHERE MY FIELD/INDUSTRY IS HEADED: “The auto industry is at a unique juncture. Only twice in the last 100 years – the Great Depression and World War II – has there been a period where change was as massive. Technology change and macro- and micro-economic change make it ripe for opportunity. I see a different set of players emerging and a true global theme for this industry.”

FAVORITE TECHNOLOGICAL GADGET: “iTunes on my iPod and now an iPad and I’m a very happy camper.”

FAVORITE PLACE: “At sea.”

FAVORITE HOBBIES: “Sailing or working on old cars.”

FAVORITE FOOD: “Sushi.”

MY HIDDEN TALENT: “I’m a fairly decent guitar player. I used to make a living playing guitar.”

HOW I WANT TO BE REMEMBERED: “As a good husband, good father; one who left the place a little bit better than it was when he arrived.”


Grant Thornton Website At the annual awards reception in April 2014, one Leader & Innovator from the previous 12 months will be selected as the Grant Thornton Leader & Innovator of the Year.