William Clay Ford, Jr.

William Clay Ford Junior ( May 3, 1957 in Detroit, Michigan), also known as Bill, is chairman of the Ford Motor Company.

Family

He was born in Detroit as a great-grandson of Henry Ford. His father is William Clay Ford Sr. and his mother Martha Parke Firestone, granddaughter of Harvey Firestone. He is married to Lisa Ford, born VanDerZee, with whom he has four children. He lives with his family in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Early career

He graduated in 1979 from Princeton University, and in 1984 he received an MBA in management from the MIT Sloan School of Management. He started at the Ford Motor Company in 1979 and went through a variety of positions, starting in the financial sector, the compulsory subject for future executives.

He then spent several years in middle management of product development. He also headed the climate control department after Ford parts company had spun off as a subsidiary Visteon and so the function was no longer covered. At the time of the so-called Ford 2000 reorganization, he was responsible for the heavy truck.

Management

Bill Ford gave up his leading position in the Heavy Truck Product Management to be Chairman of the Finance Committee, a non-conducting corporate leadership position that he held for several years before he became chairman of the Group. He was also for a time chairman of the board without a general manager title, a time long before Jacques Nasser was ousted. This reflected significant differences in the views of corporate values ​​. Nasser was known for putting priority on maximizing profits and shareholder value, while Bill Ford stands for valuing of people and traditions.

Social Commitment

Bill Ford already made ​​a name for himself when he was only chairman and not the chief. As on 1 February 1999 took place an explosion at the Ford Rouge power station, which killed some Ford employees, Bill Ford rejected the advice of his advisors, and hurried from the headquarters, called the Ford World Headquarters, to the scene. One of his staff pointed out, " Generals do not go to the front ," Bill Ford said, " Then demoted me to the soldier ." After his visit, he was on the road waiting television crews an emotional report on the disaster.

2004 and 2005, Bill Ford announced shares of its performance-based Aktienbonusses order to donate them for educational foundations for the benefit of employees and for charitable purposes.

  • Ford
  • Business (automotive )
  • Manager
  • Americans
  • Born in 1957
  • Man
William Clay Ford, Sr. Name Authority File
125035
de