Chrysler Exec Jim Press Faces Pressing Financial Trouble

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Sep 21st 2009 at 6:02PM

Auto executives are not immune to financial turmoil. Chrysler Group Deputy Chief Executive Jim Press seems to be having his own personal economic crisis. Various sources are reporting that he owes $947,410 in back taxes to the IRS and has also defaulted on $609,286 loan. The Wall Street Journal has a letter from Press to the Western Federal Credit Union last November that has Press telling the bank that he was having a cash flow issue at the time but would pay his bills.

The IRS has filed a lien against his Birmingham, Michigan home which is on the market for $3.15 million (pictures in the gallery below). He bought the six-bedroom home in June 2008 and took out a $2.2 million mortgage. Press owns four homes total including a Manhattan home which was on the market for $15.7 million but is now longer on the market and has been rented for $35,000 according to Streeteasy.com. He also owns a home in Southern California and another one in New Orleans. Press who was at Toyota for over 20 years and made it through Chrysler's bailout, is expected to leave the company at the end of this year.

MLive.com says that Press earns $2.4 million a year from Chrysler and received a $50 million compensation package when he joined the company but that package diminished when Chrysler went into bankruptcy. Press is also said to have been spending $56,000 in child and spousal support to his ex-wife.

Gallery: Jim Press in Birmingham