Born into a Jewish family[1] in Smolensk, a city in western Russia, Morris Markin worked in a clothing factory during his young years.
His determination and hard work got him promoted to a supervisor position by the age of nineteen, when he emigrated to the United States in November 1912.
When he arrived at Ellis Island, he spoke no English and couldn't afford to pay the bond required to enter the country.
Markin then teamed up with one of the brothers and opened a factory which made pants under government contracts during World War I.
In 1921, Markin entered the automobile business when he collected an auto body manufacturing company from an engineer named Lomberg.