– In the driver’s seat. In the 117-year history of the mass-produced automobile, there’s never been a car company both founded and led by a woman. Men’s names—Ford, Ferrari, Chrysler—became the iconic brands that dominate the category.
Out on Long Island, Kristie D’Ambrosio-Correll is building the first automotive business both founded and led by a female CEO. (Of course, it’s not the first to be led by a female CEO, with GM chief Mary Barra an icon of the auto industry.) D’Ambrosio-Correll, 37, is the founder of Dacora, an ultra-luxury electric vehicle that will sell for between $500,000 and $650,000 starting in 2028. And it’s named for her—a shortened version of the last name she and her husband, Dacora’s CTO Eric D’Ambrosio-Correll, share.
In person, the car is striking. So far, there’s one prototype which D’Ambrosio-Correll recently had on display parked outside the Waverly Inn in Manhattan. It’s 20 feet long, and D’Ambrosio-Correll describes the vision as “America’s Rolls Royce.” She grew up fascinated by cars and remembers asking her father what the American ultra-luxury automobile was—and being disappointed there wasn’t an equivalent. She pursued a path as a computer and electrical engineer—and was the CTO of Mirror, the at-home fitness company that sold to Lululemon for $500 million in 2020. The experience taught her about building a high-value product that’s integrated into a customer’s physical, everyday world.
Dacora is catering to an ultra-wealthy clientele, one that may not even be driving (or be driven in) an equivalent car today. The customer is often someone who has built or sold a company, whose work blends fully into their life, D’Ambrosio-Correll says. The customer is eager for privacy and disconnection—the car has no screens inside, beyond a disappearing navigation platform. The car is electric partly because that’s the quietest engine. The buyer doesn’t want voice control or other modern features. “They’re not happy with what’s on the market,” she says. “They’ve gone downmarket.”
Dacora is not building its own power train, and is building the model on top of an existing EV platform. “It’s kind of an old school model that used to be done back in the ’20s and ’30s,” D’Ambrosio-Correll explains. That helps this not to be a “money pit” of an endeavor, she says. The company also won’t hold inventory, and will build vehicles commissioned for clients at a factory/atelier in Hudson, New York. The CEO expects to turn a profit in Dacora’s second year of production and expand to global markets—especially the Middle East and Europe—after that.
While the ultra-luxury automotive market may seem to be dominated by men, D’Ambrosio-Correll is eager to build for a female clientele too. At 4-foot-9, she’s well aware of the challenges that arise when cars are not designed for women. “Not only are cars designed by companies that are led by men, they’re marketed as if women only care about the safety of their families—which, of course we do, but that’s not the only thing we care about,” she says.
D’Ambrosio-Correll specifically sought out female investors to back her vision. Anu Duggal of Female Founders Fund invested when the idea was just a drawing on a sheet of paper, as one of her first forays into big-tech hardware. Jesse Draper’s Halogen Ventures is a backer, too; many waitlisted clientele are angel investors.
D’Ambrosio-Correll hopes that Dacora lasts as long as the world’s most iconic auto brands. “Hopefully, this will be our family legacy for a long time,” she says.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
The Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Fortune’s daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Today’s edition was curated by Sara Braun. Subscribe here.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Tragedy in Texas. Camp Mystic, the Texas girls’ camp that lost at least 27 campers and counselors in devastating floods, has a storied history. Former campers say it’s a special place rooted in tradition with notable alumni including former First Lady Laura Bush. NPR
- Epstein theory debunked. The Department of Justice said on Monday that there is no evidence that Jeffrey Epstein had a “client list” that referenced individuals he worked with to traffic and victimize young women and girls, or that he was murdered. The findings contradict Attorney General Pam Bondi’s previous statements, in which she claimed that a client list was on her desk and would soon be revealed to the public. The Justice Department said it has no plans to share more documents on the matter. CNN
- New gig. Carla Hayden, the former librarian of Congress abruptly fired by President Trump in his first days in office, was just appointed as a senior fellow to Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the largest philanthropic grant-maker in the United States. The organization has been working to fill gaps for communities that have lost arts programming as a result of federal cuts. Associated Press
- She dissents. In her third year on the bench, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has cemented herself as a voice of dissent on the court. Not only has she dissented from the court's recent conservative majority rulings, she's also disagreed with her fellow liberal justices and criticized the process of the court, citing reckless and rushed decisions. Washington Post
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Amboy Street Ventures, a venture capital fund focused on sexual health and women's health technology startups, appointed Janet Foutty as a strategic advisor to the firm. She formerly served as the CEO of Deloitte Consulting and executive chair of Deloitte U.S.
Dunmor, a residential loan direct lender, appointed Zeenat Zonte as the new executive vice president of their wholesale broker division. She most recently served as the VP correspondent channel manager at Newfi Wholesale.
Erin Grau will stay on as managing director at Charter, the media and insights company she co-founded, after selling the company to Michael Moritz and the San Francisco Standard.
Geodis, a distribution and logistics company, appointed Laura Ritchey as president and CEO of the Americas region. She most recently was the CEO of Radial.
Hamilton ETFs, an investment firm specializing in innovative exchange traded funds, announced the promotion of Jennifer Mersereau to co-CEO.
New Relic, an AI-driven unified data platform, announced the appointment of Lauren Nemeth as chief revenue officer. She most recently served as the chief operating officer at Pinecone.
Stonepeak, a private equity firm, appointed Cindy Marrs as a senior advisor. She most recently served as a partner and global head of wealth management at Wellington Management.
The Global Finance & Technology Network, an organization specializing in leveraging technology to create inclusive financial systems, announced the appointment of Queen Máxima of the Netherlands as chair of the international advisory board.
Zartico, a visitor intelligence company for place-based industries, announced the appointment of Sylvia Weiler as chief revenue officer. She most recently was a consultant at A23 Advisors.
ON MY RADAR
With all eyes on them, a ‘WAG’ style emerges New York Times
WNBA fandom is shifting to a more tribal, toxic atmosphere Washington Post
What I learned from my mother and the U.S. Postal Service The New Yorker
PARTING WORDS
“I had to submit to being a beginner. The humility of that—showing up every day knowing you’re going to suck. And it has to be okay. You’re not ‘bad.’ You’re just a beginner.”
— Anne Hathaway on training for her role as a pop star in A24’s Mother Mary
