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Some days, Akerson would rather bowl

Durant: From executive suite to the alley
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Automotive News
May 21, 2012 - 12:01 am ET

When General Motors founder Billy Durant was found, late in life, to be running a bowling alley in Flint, Mich., he supplied future generations of GM bosses with a laugh line they could always turn to.

Rick Wagoner joked at the 2002 Automotive News World Congress that Durant's bowling alley stint was "a prospect that has haunted GM CEOs ever since."

(By the way, where is Wagoner these days?)

Anyway, the latest GM CEO to invoke the famous Durant-ecdote is current boss Dan Akerson. During his recent graduation speech at Columbia University, Akerson noted Durant's fate.

"He wound up back in Flint running a bowling alley. And you know what? I've had days since becoming CEO of GM where running a bowling alley sounds pretty appealing."

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