Chrysler Taken Private

Private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management took control of Chrysler Group on Friday in a $7.4 billion deal designed to set the beleaguered 82-year-old automaker on a path to recovery as a private company. Daimler AG will retain a 19.9% interest in the company.

Daimler paid $33 billion for Chrysler in 1998. Now the company is apparently worth $9.2 billion. That's almost $24 billion gone with the wind. In other terms it's a compounded 13% loss every year for nine years, without even counting the losses that Chrysler accumulated over those 9 years. What a bonehead move.