Expert: Dr. Joseph de Beauchamp - 8/15/2005

Question
I am looking for help with two questions about Chrysler stock.  

Background:  My Father was an engineer for Chrysler back in the 60's and 70's.  He purchased Chrysler stock through a company purchase plan.  When he passed away, the stock reverted to my Mother with my sister and me as holders of ½ each in the event of my Mother's death.  

1)How can I obtain a history of my Father's purchases so I can confirm the amount of stock as it went through the Daimler purchase?

2)I am told that when Daimler purchased Chrysler, stock was cut in ½ so that my parents ended up with ½ of the number of shares they had.  Is that true?

Thank you very much.


Answer
Daimler would not be required to provide you anything at this point, and nor would Chrysler. You might find some friendly people there and explain what you are looking to obtain. They might not have records going back this far. When you call, talk to human resources have your father's social security number. If you are lucky, then they might give you all the pension fund records going back this far.

Chances are, you are chasing a ghost. I doubt very much you would find any extra benefit to doing this research. Both companies, which I followed, never gave out any strange or usual accounting to me. I think when you look into all of this, your father received what he was due.

I have not heard that Chrysler stock was cut to 1/2 in the sale, however, some other math might be working here. I think at the end of all of this, you would find no change in equity ownership.

Dr. Joseph de Beauchamp