[1] In February 2006, Kerkorian helped elect York to the board of directors of General Motors, from which he had previously resigned.

He earned degrees from the United States Military Academy at West Point,[1] the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,[1] and the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business,[1] and was trained as an engineer.

He later served as a special adviser to investor Kirk Kerkorian during Kerkorian's 2007 failed takeover bid for Chrysler and his other investments in Ford Motor Company and General Motors, where he previously served as a board member from February to October 2006 before resigning over frustration resulting from GM's failure to distribute materials to the board in advance of its meetings and a reluctance to implement change recommendations, including the shedding of peripheral brands,[4] which GM ultimately affected during bankruptcy in the form of terminating the Pontiac, Saturn, and Hummer brands (after a failed sale attempt to Chinese Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery) and the sale of its SAAB division to Spyker Cars.

York believed that moving the turbine from adjacent to the blades to on the ground, by using a series of conveyor belts, would significantly increase height, decrease weight, and improve efficiency of wind power generation.

York was hospitalized on March 17, 2010, after collapsing in his suburban Detroit home from a brain aneurysm.