Meet 29-year-old Henry Ford III, the next scion in line for the crown
Ford Motor Company is a publicly traded company with a catch: the Ford family permanently holds 40% of the company's voting shares. That means the Ford family has an awful lot of pull, and if someone carrying the family name wants a job, there's a 100% chance they're going to get one.
The latest Ford family member to take a place at the company built by his great grandfather is Henry Ford III. The 29-year-old son of Edsel Ford is fresh off a summer internship at Galpin Ford, where he told AutoWeek that he sold five Fords and a Volvo. He is also getting his MBA at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a.k.a. MIT, and he's getting ready to join the Ford team back in Dearborn. Henry III has been working at the company with his name on the door for some time, having already participated in the all-important labor contract negotiations in 2006 and 2007. He also worked as a junior high school math and English teacher, so his background is rather diverse.
While it's tough to argue that the Ford name hasn't helped Henry III tremendously (he did, after all, reportedly meet with then-CEO Bill Ford and other Ford execs in 2006 to discuss which job he'd receive), the newest Henry does appear to have his head on straight. Does he have a family right to one day run the company? We hope any promotions will come with actual accomplishments, but it may ultimately be too hard to ignore someone named Henry Ford.
[Source: AutoWeek | Image: Mark Vaughn]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
izzy 6:38PM (8/28/2009)
Spencer Pratt is going to run Ford?
Reply
l.i.dave 7:42PM (8/28/2009)
It's none of your god damn business autoblog! The man is trying to make his way in the world. Owning 40 percent of the company is a pretty good reason to do right by it.
I'd rather have him, a descendant of a family dedicated to the company that bears his name, than some fat hedge fund wall street jerk off or some corporate climbing greedy lawyer.
What was the point of this article anyway? To introduce the newest Ford or to slander him with assumptions of nepotism.
"reportedly meet with then-CEO Bill Ford and other Ford execs in 2006 to discuss which job he'd receive" Really?
You didn't seem to treat Akio Toyoda with the same smug mockery.
Keep up the bias, um I mean crack journalism.
inline6 10:21PM (8/28/2009)
l.i.dave,
Bill Ford, Jr. sorta helped run the company into the ground 5 years ago. And Henry Ford II was a tyrant who made horrible decisions for Ford in the 1970s (one of which was firing Lee Iacocca).
So, um, take a tranquilizer or something. It's a family-run business and has been for 100+ years. All AB is pointing to (and rather tongue-in-cheek at that) is that nepotism happens.
Sheesh.
sk 8:22AM (8/29/2009)
@inline6
Bill Ford actually saved the company from the prior CEO Jacques Nasser whose decisions led Fomoco into the big mess. He also hired the current CEO Alan Mulally which obviously does a great job saving the company.
william tell 6:39PM (8/28/2009)
I guess nepotism is endorsed in Dearborn
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Yaroukh 8:34PM (8/28/2009)
...because which father would want his son to work in a family company, right?
Judy Zik 9:55PM (8/28/2009)
What a horrible thought. Actually having employees that care about the company they work for. They might even have a few Executives who are in it for more than the bonus. People whose working career lives and dies with this one company because it actually bears their name. If there was any talent in that pool they would be fools not to tap into it. However despite the massive size of the Ford Family and their control of the company they haven't just stocked the board with family members. In fact Bill Ford was the one CEO who was smart enough to realize that the best job he could possibly do for the family company was getting someone else to do the job. That kind of humility and self sacrifice doesn't happen when it's just a place you work for.
The guy also got career advice from a member of the family. Big deal. They sent him out into the trenches to get some experience. He is obviously not quite being handed everything on a silver platter.
LesPaul1 6:51PM (8/28/2009)
I wonder if he got into MIT on academic merit.. or is it silly to even wonder.
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Jung 7:05PM (8/28/2009)
I'm sure George W Bush also got into Yale and Harvard MBA strictly on academic merits alone.
HotRodzNKustoms 7:59PM (8/28/2009)
or a certain other President that went to Harvard which will not be named for two reasons. 1. My close proximity to a certain house of a certain color. 2. Automatic 1/2 star for the mere mention of the truth in this case.
Devin 9:11PM (8/28/2009)
HotRodzNKustoms,
I'm sure you aren't talking about President Barack Obama, are you? Because President Obama didn't have a famous mother or father who could pave his way through life like some people. He didn't have a mother or father who could even afford for him to go to Princeton and Harvard. He did it all on his own merit, and even became the first African American President of the Harvard Law Review. Oh, and afterwards, instead of going to one of the hundreds of Law firms and make huge sums of money, he went back to the south side of Chicago (which is a horrible neighborhood), and helped people who couldn't always help themselves. I understand that most people in this country have strong ideological beliefs, but we owe it to each other as humans to not make personal slanders against our politicians, and leave it to the policies that we attack. And no, I won't give you half a star, because i believe in the 1st amendment.
dukeisduke 9:59PM (8/28/2009)
We don't know about 0bama's record at Harvard because he won't release it. Or any of his college transcripts, for that matter. What's he ashamed of, anyway? And who paid for his education, anyway?
Hiram 10:02PM (8/28/2009)
@devin
Get your facts straight. After law school, with no experience but with the help of powerful contacts from summer associate jobs, he was given a very lucative book deal to write about race, which he failed to do and defaulted on his contract with tthe publisher..instead he wrote (ghost written) a book about himself (narcissist borderline personality disorder) in order to fufill his obligation. Between his graduation from law school and the time he joined Davis Miner he worked as a community organizer with various groups, basically shake-down organizations sucking money from corporations and foundations to fund leftist agends. Then on to a powerful Chicago law firm with powerful friends and lots of money. I could go on and add more detail, names, favors, etc. But I think you get the picture. Go ahead, give me half a star or less, I could care less. Truth is the truth.
sk 8:12AM (8/29/2009)
@Hiram,
Still beats the way George W Bush got into Yale.
Smegley 11:48AM (8/29/2009)
Racial quotas are basically the same as family connections, but with the added BS of beeing enforced (or rather "forced") by Big Brother.
Devin 3:30PM (8/29/2009)
Oh yeah, I forgot. You guys are all right. Obama is secretly a muslim, and funded by a secret terrorist organization. His blackness obviously got him through college, and there is no absolutely no way that a black man might have actually EARNED the accomplishments he got. No, he just got it cause he was black and liberal. I also completely forgot that he took away trillions of dollars from corporations who definitely don't make any profit and don't have executives who get paid billions of dollars. I don't know how I forgot all that. And he's obviously a socialist/communist because he believes that healthcare is a right for all human beings, and not a privilege for just those who can afford it. Yep, Obama is practically the anti-christ. Lord save us from this black devil.
Jim 6:41PM (8/29/2009)
"We don't know about 0bama's record at Harvard because he won't release it. Or any of his college transcripts, for that matter. What's he ashamed of, anyway? And who paid for his education, anyway?"
Go back to townhall.com, you blithering Glenn Beck worshipper.
JGN 7:08PM (8/28/2009)
Bill Ford was a disaster. You might only get one Henry Ford per family, the current CEO seems to be doing a good job.
Reply
Rene Curry 7:31PM (8/28/2009)
Bill Ford did a good job. In the course of his position he identified his own weakness and found the right guy to to complete the team. He could have easily been stubborn to maintain his position and status, but ultimately he made the right business decision for Ford Motor Company.
Ford did not go into bankruptcy and today it is gaining market share. Let's compare the results of all the other Detroit automakers in the same timeframe since Bill Ford took the reins.
I see no problem with a little tradition and giving Henry Ford III a chance to advance. He will have a lot more pressure than anyone else to perform. In todays competitive business environment he will never lead the company if he does not actually earn it.
I don't know about you, but I like the fact that I can relate Ford Motor Company to the Ford family, tradition, and Detroit history rather than a faceless corporation. By the way, they should exploit that in their advertising.
l.i.dave 7:45PM (8/28/2009)
Bill Ford is responsible for the hybrid and EV programs at Ford. They are years ahead of most other auto companies in regards to these technologies.