Ford Chairman Bill Ford hasn't been compensated for working at his great grandfather's company since May 2005, and he doesn't intend to cash in until the Blue Oval makes a sustained profit. Ford's board of directors decided that nearly three years was too long to work pro bono and tried to pay the Ford family scion, but the chairman again refused to reneg on his pay-free pledge. Mr. Ford has, however, agreed to receive payment retroactive to 2008 once the Dearborn, MI automaker achieves a full year of profitability.
It's impressive that Blue Oval Bill has foregone between $25 million and $33 million in salary over the past few years, but Henry Ford's sweat and guile made him wealthy beyond his wildest dreams before he was even born. Those of us living in Michigan would be far more impressed if Bill pledged to give up the Detroit Lions if the automaker misses its target to regain profitability in 2009.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
LMBVette @ Feb 29th 2008 8:10AM
With the Lions poor record over the last what, 15 years, Bill should give up his salary from the Lions until they get into the playoff.s
Mobius_1 @ Feb 29th 2008 8:16AM
That is great spirit, and I have a tip for him: bring Euro Focus to America ASAP (and Mondeo, and some of them Holdens too, while you are at it)
Tagg @ Feb 29th 2008 3:38PM
Holden is owned by GM and GM is a competitor for Ford. So, how can Ford bring over Holdens?
Mobius_1 @ Feb 29th 2008 8:17AM
I mean, Oz Fords (FPVs)
brn @ Feb 29th 2008 8:28AM
Can we shut up about the Euro focus already? No one will pay $30,000 (US) for an economy car. Ford is trying to get it over hear, but will not do so until it can be economical. Displacing the existing focus (an extremely practical car) would displace the entry level customers, causing considerable harm to their sales. Yes, the Verve might be able to pull that off. We'll see.
It'd make a lot more sense to whine about them discontinuing the Contour. That was a Euro car that should have done much better than it did.
Scott @ Feb 29th 2008 8:28AM
unfortunately the Lions are owned by his father, William Clay Ford, Sr, so that's not happening soon.
psarhjinian @ Feb 29th 2008 9:40AM
The first Focus was an expensive-to-produce European car as well (compared to cheap-as-dirt models Ford was cranking out at the time). Somehow, Ford managed to sell it for a competitive price.
It's also worth noting that Mazda manages to sell the same platform competitively in both continents, and that the price differential doesn't seem to be much of an issue for them. Heck, for Mazda3 and G2 Focus are priced competitively in Europe. The difference between Ford and Mazda is that Ford is unwilling or unable to eat the margin.
They ate the margin on the G1 Focus. They chose to hang onto that platform as a way to leverage amortized costs. The funny thing is, the multiple revamps of the G1 have cost them about that the G2 would have.
It's also disturbing to note that the Focus, more then any other domestic car, shook the Asian stranglehold. Unlike to "sort-of" competitive Malibu and Aura that people are crowing about which is more or less on par with the Accord or Camry, the Focus was _head and shoulders_ better than the Civic or Corolla. It took both Honda and Toyota two generations to beat it.
And Ford does what with the 2008? According to Consumer Reports and others, they've actually made the car _worse_.
Geeze...
HAWC1506 @ Feb 29th 2008 8:36PM
Then why do the Russians get the Euro Ford Focus?
Anthony @ Feb 29th 2008 8:37AM
[anal mode]
* renege
[/anal mode]
Guenther @ Feb 29th 2008 9:01AM
Stop hacking on the lions already- they won 7 games, not counting the 2 pre-season games. Thats better than... well, its better. This year- 9:7!
Michael @ Feb 29th 2008 2:07PM
I agree, Lions had a great start, but they did play the two worst teams in the NFL. The wins against Chitown were nice, but we should of beat Minnesota on the 2nd meetup. It would of been nice to of had to play Oakland twice, lol. Now the last games they played, the opponents weren't even playing their best guys, so they could preserve them for the playoffs. I don't remember but did Favre even play the whole game in the last meetup we had with them? Either way, not bad, but we still need a bad ass QB and offensive line.
icu812ru469 @ Feb 29th 2008 9:02AM
What a load of horse crap... he's not getting "salary" but the company is his after all so it's not like he's not getting money for his efforts. Ohhhh woowismeeeeee
Kremit @ Feb 29th 2008 9:24AM
icu812ru469 : It's HIS company? He owns ford? You certainly can not be that stupid.
DCragtop @ Feb 29th 2008 9:34AM
Actually, you'd be pretty suprised at the amount of stupidy that surfaces around these pages when it comes to discussions about Ford or any other domestic brand.
rschaefer @ Feb 29th 2008 9:40AM
I think it's a good idea. he should get whoever does the exterior deisgn for US products to give up his paycheck, too.
and his desk.
and his parking spot.
in fact, just fire the loser and pay more to the guy that does the awesome looking Euro stuff.
psarhjinian @ Feb 29th 2008 9:46AM
I think the opportune question isn't "is he being paid a salary" but instead "is he compensated in any way, shape or form, at all". It's quite common for executives to recieve no direct salary, but instead to see compensation through perks, options, bonuses and dividends.
It's also worth noting that he's not exactly hurting for cash on a personal level.
Now, that being said, I think it's an impressive gesture. I'd like to see the heads of Ford Product Planning and Marketing departments make the same commitment, because those fellows are directly responsible for every screwup in the last five years.
Tagg @ Feb 29th 2008 3:46PM
Finally, someone who understand that marketing is a major contributor to the problem! I think many people beleive marketing is just advertising but it is also market research and they are the bridge between customer and company.
I think the addition of Farley is the best addition made by any automaker in years. It is a much better addition than Jim Press at Chrysler or even Lutz at GM because he has proven to know how to get cars people want to market.
brn @ Feb 29th 2008 9:58AM
psarhjinian,
I was enjoying your counter to my post until you decided to quote Consumer Reports. You know better than that. :)
psarhjinian @ Feb 29th 2008 10:17AM
:P :)
I do respect CR. If I were buying a vanity product like a sports or luxury car, I probably wouldn't use them. If I was buying a transport appliance I most certainly would.
Their take on the Focus is accurate, though. Ford killed the more versatile bodystyles, softened the suspension (and made the ride worse--go figure!) and removed content (telescoping steering). Other than SYNC, it's a poorer product across the board. CR is just one of the magazines that called them on it.
NPJ @ Feb 29th 2008 10:22AM
I'm sure he gets compensated in other ways. Most CEOs who take the $1 salary get stock options worth tens of millions that they cash out of, along with paid car, jet, hotels, etc. It's not like he's moving into a cardboard box on the side of the road any time soon.