Lynn Tilton on Reviving MD Helicopters and U.S. Manufacturing

“When people talk about me as a Wall Street, stiletto-wearing chick … the stiletto part is right, but I really don’t consider myself Wall Street. I take pride in being an industrialist”
Tilton in an MD 902 Explorer destined for the Kurdistan governmentPhotograph by Justin Maxon for Bloomberg Businessweek

The private equity mogul took over MD Helicopters in 2005 with the goal of making manufacturing sexy. She guides our correspondent around her Arizona factory.

How many people work here?
We have almost 500 altogether; 175 are in Mexico.