Culture｜Ford Motors has only had 12 CEOs in its 117-year history, and we have gathered them all

Written by Youwen Automotive? Baili Xi

The signature font commonly used by founder Henry Ford

In 2019, General Motors (GM) stock price rose 21%, while Ford Motor Co - which still relies on profits from big truck sales - fell 0.6%. Moving forward, however, Ford hopes the new mobility segment will start to pay dividends.

Ford CEO Jim Hackett (Jim Hackett) believes that once the roads are connected, only "smart" will survive, because the cars of the future will rely heavily on brain power to function. Hackett is pushing Ford into connectivity, electric power and autonomy in an attempt to reverse a three-year stock slide, AutoNews reports, and investors believe the Blue Oval stock is now Behind GM.

Nearly three years ago on May 21, Ford Motor Company CEO Mark Fields was fired by the board of directors, becoming the most watched executive position change news in the automotive industry in the world in May. On June 1, 2014, Mark Fields took over Ford from legendary CEO Alan Mulally. However, during his tenure, Ford's stock price has fallen by 40%. Although Ford is comprehensively promoting business transformation to adapt to the impact of emerging technologies on the industry. Obviously, the board of directors represented by Bill Ford has lost confidence and patience in his leadership. Mark Fields' successor is Jim Hackett, CEO of Ford Smart Mobility.

Against the backdrop of increasing uncertainty in the general business environment of the automobile industry, we seem to feel that it is common for Ford Motors to change CEOs, and we may even feel that Ford Motors changes CEOs very frequently. In fact, in the 117-year history of Ford Motor (founded in 1903), there have been only 12 CEOs, and the average tenure of each CEO is almost 11 years. Among them, the longest-serving CEO is Henry Ford II, who has served for as long as 11 years. 34 years! This is less frequent than the replacement of emperors in most dynasties in China.

Let us review the profiles of these 12 CEOs in the long 117-year history of Ford Motor Company.

1. Henry Ford

1903-1918, founder and first president of Ford Motor Company

Henry Ford was born in 1863 A farmer's family, originally a mechanical engineer, built his first car as early as 1896. On June 6, 1903, he founded the Ford Motor Company. When the first Model T was first launched in October 1908 at a price of $825, it won the hearts of millions of Americans. The production volume in the first year reached 10,660 units, breaking all records in the history of the automobile industry. record.

He was also the first person in the world to apply the assembly line concept to great success, and in this way made cars truly popular in the United States. This new production method made the automobile a mass product. It not only revolutionized the industrial production method, but also had a huge impact on modern society and culture. Therefore, some social theorists call this period of economic and social history "Fordism". Henry Ford was born in Greenfield, a town in Dearborn, Michigan, which is part of today's Dearborn. He died in 1947 at the age of 83 in his home in his hometown of Debao.

Ford's parents, William and Mary Ford, were immigrants from Ireland. Ford was born on a farm owned by his parents. He was the eldest of six children. He has been interested in mechanics since he was a child. When he was 12 years old, he spent a lot of time building a mechanical workshop of his own. When he was 15 years old, he built an internal combustion engine by himself.

In 1879, he left his hometown and went to Detroit to work as a machinist apprentice. After completing his studies, he joined the Westinghouse Electric Company.

In 1891 Ford became an engineer for the Edison Lighting Company. When he was promoted to chief engineer in 1893, he had enough time and money to conduct his personal research on the internal combustion engine. In 1896 he built his first automobile, which he named the Quadricycle.

He then left the Edison Illuminating Company with a number of other inventors, and together they formed the Detroit Automobile Company. But the company soon collapsed because Ford was focused on developing new cars and neglected selling them. He raced his cars against cars from other companies to prove the superiority of his cars. The main product of his second own company, Henry Ford Company, was his racing car, which he even drove to victory on October 10, 1901. But soon his backers forced him to leave the Henry Ford Company, which was later renamed Cadillac.

Car produced by Ford Company - Model T?

Ford paid great attention to his relationship with his employees. His employees work eight hours a day. The daily wage in 1913 was $5 (considerable for the time). Salaries were raised to $6 a day at the Model T's peak in 1918. This was unheard of at the time. In addition, Ford also rewards employees for their inventions and creations, allowing them to share in the profits brought by their inventions.

Ford, on the other hand, is absolutely opposed to unions.

In order to stop union activities in his factory, he specially hired people to study ways to prevent unions. It wasn't until 1941 that the first strike occurred at a Ford factory, but it wasn't until 1945 when Ford left the company that unions were able to gain a true foothold in his factories.

2. Edsel Ford

President of Ford from 1918 to 1943, and served as the first chairman of Lincoln

In 1908 Ford Motor Company produced the world's first car for ordinary people - the Model T?, and the world's automotive industrial revolution began. The success of the Model T? brought Henry Ford money and honors, but he did not get carried away. Instead, he devoted himself to increasing production and invented large-scale assembly line assembly technology, making him the leader of the automotive world. .

After achieving these achievements, Henry Ford clearly realized that only by firmly holding the control of the enterprise in his own hands can he achieve greater success. As a result, he began to try to establish his own autocratic kingdom and wanted to turn the company into his private property.

Beginning in 1906, Henry Ford successively acquired the shares of other shareholders, and the shareholding ratio increased to 58.5%. After his son Edsel Ford took office, he continued to let his son acquire shares. remaining equity. Until 1918, the Ford Motor Company was entirely controlled by the Ford family.

Model T? Assembly Line

On January 1, 1919, Ford gave up the position of president of the company to his son Edsel Ford. Despite this, he is still the number one person in the company. At this point, Ford began buying back shares from other investors, making him and his son the sole owners of the company. But the decision dealt a blow to Ford Motor Company. The post-World War I depression forced Ford to borrow huge sums of money to buy back his stock.

Edsel Ford was the only son of Henry Ford. He also showed a keen interest in cars as a child and performed very well. Henry Ford was very satisfied with his son and said, "I have a good son. He is naturally the best way to inherit my career, so Henry hopes that Edsel can enter the enterprise to study instead of going to college for further study."

In 1913, 20-year-old Edsel graduated from middle school. His father believed that practice was the best way to gain knowledge. Edsel obeyed his father's arrangement and stayed with his father. In 1918, Henry passed the position of president of the company to Edsel, and later handed over 42% of the company's shares to his son.

Although Edsel became the president of the company, the actual controller was still Henry Ford. Despite this, Edsel still made great contributions to Ford through unremitting efforts. He not only presided over the design of the "Y" model, ensuring its success in overseas markets, but also launched new products such as "Lincoln Zephyr", enriching Ford's product line.

In 1920, Ford bought a lot of land in Brazil to plant rubber trees in order to produce tires for his cars. But the result of this operation was a huge failure. He suffered a huge loss when he sold the land in 1945.

On January 11, 1922, at Edsel's suggestion, Ford acquired the expensive and high-quality "Lincoln" car. And Edsel, with its accurate grasp of the pulse of the automotive era, continued to successfully launch the Model Y, and re-created popular models such as the Lincoln Zephyr and Mercury, which not only greatly enriched Ford's product line, but also opened up overseas markets.

Edsel finally became an outstanding entrepreneur, improving Ford Motor's mechanical design and brand value. However, he became ill from overwork and died in 1943 at the age of 49.

As the son of a legendary giant, Edsel Ford wanted to get ahead, which meant he had to face greater challenges. His father, Henry, refused to make any changes in the company's strategy and refused to listen to the suggestions of those around him. Throughout Edsel's career, he was just a follower of orders, the boss's son.

3. Henry Ford II,

Served as chairman and president from 1945 to 1979

The old Henry suffered from the loss of his son It hurts, but his business philosophy remains rigid and outdated, and increasingly hinders the company's growth. But the Ford dynasty is still moving forward like a big ship, and the third generation of the family has also joined the company. Edsel's sons, Henry Ford Jr. and Benson Ford, both joined the company one after another. Henry II was more talented than Benson. Old Henry saw the potential in his grandson, but his old neurotic habit recurred. He was worried that his supreme position in the family would be threatened, so he took a negative approach to Henry II. attitude, trying to hinder his grandson's development, turning a blind eye to his performance at work, and even preventing him from moving into his late father's office.

In 1945, the succession struggle finally became public, and Henry Sr. was forced to appoint his grandson as president of the company. However, Henry II demanded the power to "carry out drastic reforms", otherwise he would not accept the appointment. Although old Henry was extremely reluctant, he had no other way to go. Subsequently, at the behest of Henry II, a letter of resignation drafted for Henry Sr. was read out at a board meeting.

At that time, in the environment of the Great Depression, Ford had been surpassed by General Motors and Chrysler as its competitors continued to produce new and high-quality cars, and it also had to face the emergence of new automobile manufacturers after the war. fierce competition among merchants. The situation at Ford was not very optimistic. In order to revive Ford, Henry II carried out large-scale reforms after taking office, poaching many management talents from General Motors, launching more models, and quickly regaining its competitive advantage and becoming It became the second largest automobile company in the United States after General Motors and opened a new era in the Ford Kingdom.

Henry Ford II retired from the Ford Motor Company in 1980, surprisingly handing over the reins to Philip Caldwell, a non-family executive who had been unknown. .

However, although Philip is in charge of Ford, actual control still belongs to the Ford family. Under Philip's leadership, Ford Motor Company achieved impressive results and launched high-quality cars such as the "Taurus", which enabled the Ford Kingdom to experience a great renaissance.

Ford Motor Company regained its second place in the U.S. automobile manufacturing industry and became the second largest automobile company in the United States after General Motors. As the third generation of the family, Henry II accomplished the historical mission brilliantly.

4. Philip Caldwell,

CEO from 1979 to 1985

Caldwell’s hometown is Bull, Ohio Nevers, who grew up in South Charleston, comes from a family of English descent. Graduated from Musi Shizuoka College in 1940, majoring in economics. In 1942, he received a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Harvard Business School. Caldwell joined Ford in 1953 and successively served as the head of the Truck Operations Department, Philco Division and International Operations Department, and introduced the Ford Fiesta model to the European market.

The most suitable candidate for Henry II was his younger brother William, but William had already quit the company management after the failure of the Continental; and his son Edsel II also had no outstanding abilities. . Finally, in March 1980, Henry II handed over power of the company to Philip Caldwell, who had been working for Ford for 25 years for the first time. However, the family still had absolute control over the company, and this control came from what was later A widely used dual-class share system.

In 1978, after Lee Iacocca was fired, Caldwell took over as president of Ford Motor Company. After Henry Ford II retired, Caldwell took over as Ford's CEO and chairman. Philip Caldwell was self-possessed, cautious, and thoughtful, and he dealt quickly and decisively with the quality scandal that had plagued Ford.

During his tenure, he approved the development and production of Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable, and launched these two models on the market before retiring. The Ford Taurus model, which was put into production in 1986, was undoubtedly a sensational design for the mainstream family car market at that time.

On February 1, 1985, Caldwell retired from Ford and subsequently served as managing director of Shearson Lehman Brothers in New York. In 1990, he was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame.

In 1986, Ford's profits surpassed General Motors and became the most profitable auto giant in the United States. Ford's revival in the 1980s was Called "the greatest renaissance in business history."

5. Donald Eugene Petersen,

Served as Ford CEO from 1985 to 1990

Donald Eugene Petersen was born Born on September 4, 1926, he is a successful American businessman who has worked for Ford Motor Company for nearly 40 years and served as Ford's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) from 1985 to 1990.

Peterson was born in Pipestone, Minnesota. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II and the Korean War. He received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering (BSME) from the University of Washington in 1946. , joined Ford Motor Company in 1949 after receiving an MBA from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.

Peterson served on the company's board of directors from 1977 until his retirement in 1990. On March 13, 1980, he became the company's president and chief operating officer. In February 1985, Peterson became chairman and chief executive officer of Ford Motor Company.

In 1988, he was selected as the "Most Valuable Person" by "USA Today" and as "CEO of the Year" by "President" magazine in 1989. During his tenure, Peterson achieved Ford Motor Management. Model transformation.

Donald Peterson's one-step management approach has borne fruitful results: by 1991, the company's sales had reached US$88.96 billion, total assets reached US$173.66 billion, and 380,000 employees were employed. people, becoming the third largest industrial company in the United States and the fourth largest company in Western countries.

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6. Harold “Red” Poling,

Served as Ford CEO from 1990 to 1993

Red Bolin took over as Ford CEO from Don Peterson in 1990. He led Ford through the Great Recession of the early 1990s and later helped revive the company.

Paulin joined Ford in 1951 as a cost analyst in the Steel Division Control Office. He rose through the ranks of Ford's financial system and worked in numerous positions in Europe and North America. Pauline rose to fame in the company as a tough financial leader. His focus on cutting costs allowed Ford to become more profitable than the much larger General Motors in the late 1980s.

Pauline served as Ford's CEO from 1990 to 1994, leading Ford through the Great Depression. By the time Pauling retired, Ford had controlled 25.3% of the U.S. auto market, a significant increase from 21% in 1983. In 1993, Ford's net income reached $2.53 billion.

Another anecdote from Paulin's time at Ford that has become legendary is his scathing rebuke to the team developing the 1989 Ford Thunderbird. His real concern was that the MN-12 team had fallen far short of the weight and cost goals they had set for the new car.

Pauline was 64 years old when he took over as chairman and CEO of Ford in 1990. The company made an exception for him, exempting him from the 65-year-old retirement requirement, and Paulin served as chairman until 1994. On October 4, 1993, at the launch of the revised 1994 Ford Mustang, Pauline handed Trotman the keys to a red Mustang, symbolizing the transfer of the entire company into his hands.

7. Alex Trotman,

Served as Ford CEO from 1993 to 1998

Alex Trotman Trotman was born in the United Kingdom and was the first foreign CEO of Ford Motor Company. He served from November 1993 to December 1998. His greatest contribution to Ford was the "Ford 2000" plan (Ford 2000) proposed in 1995: through a series of business mergers, simplification of business procedures and other measures to consolidate Ford's production, marketing and product development capabilities. According to statistics, this plan saved Ford $5 billion in costs and helped Ford achieve a profit of $7 billion in 1997.

At the end of 1998, Trotman retired from Ford and promoted Jacques Nasser as his successor. Later, Trotman served as director of the British Imperial Chemical Industries Company. Trotman passed away in 2005.

8. Jacques Nasser,

Served as Ford CEO and President from 1999 to 2001

Jacques Nasser served as CEO from 1999 to 2001 Ford CEO and President.

On November 1, 1996, Jacques Nasser took charge of Ford Motor's business. After serving as president, he significantly reduced the company's operating costs. In 1998, Jacques Nasser took over Ford after former CEO Alex Trotman retired. During his tenure, Ford was the world's most profitable automaker, with profits of $7.2 billion and sales of $163 billion. He reformed and transformed Ford to catch up with GM's market share in the United States and reduce Ford's dependence on pickup trucks.

He closed many money-losing factories, sold loss-making businesses, and formulated new human resources policies. In 1999, it acquired Volvo for US$6.45 billion and Land Rover for US$2.8 billion, helping Ford achieve an integrated automotive supply chain. ?

When Ford and Nasser took over the company, they launched a humane campaign throughout the company. They spent $200 million on a project called Model E to equip every employee's home with a computer. The company announced the opening of "Family Center" programs in select locations across the United States, providing free day care and adult education.

9. Bill Ford (William Clay Ford, Jr.),

Served as CEO and Chairman from 2001 to 2006

Ford Automobile Dealers It was in the hands of Bill Ford, the fourth generation of the family.

Bill took over as chairman of Ford in January 1999. Bill inherited the old Ford's philosophy, quickly pushed Ford Motor Company forward, won the trust of the family with his performance, and properly handled the situation. The company has strained relations with environmental groups and boosted the income and benefits of Ford's 300,000 current and retired employees.

Bill Ford joined Ford Motor Company in 1979 as a product planning analyst. He has held a range of roles within the company, including production, sales, marketing, product development and financing. He served on the company's "national bargaining team" during Ford's groundbreaking 1982 labor negotiations with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union. In 1987, he was elected Chairman and Executive Director of Ford Switzerland and on January 14, 1988, he was elected to the Board of Directors of Ford Motor Company.

In 1990, Ford served as head of Ford Motor Group's business strategy department. He led the team to formulate guidelines and made suggestions for establishing small-volume production plants in developing countries. This suggestion not only greatly reduced the total cost, but also ensured product quality.

In 1992, Ford was appointed general manager of the climate control business unit. Under his leadership, the division's profitability improved and product quality improved significantly. He established the company's first wildlife habitat near the factory and built the world's first automobile factory to use recycled plastic for 25 percent of all plastic parts. During his tenure as general manager, the Climate Control business unit received a President's Council on Environmental Quality Award for using water to replace hazardous chemicals in manufacturing processes.

In 1994, Mr. Ford was promoted to vice president of the company and served as head of the company's commercial truck center. He left in 1995 and then served as chairman of the financing committee of the company's board of directors until he was appointed CEO. In 1997, Ford was appointed chairman of the Environmental and Environmental Policy Committee under the board of directors.

10. Alan Mulally

President and CEO of Ford from 2006 to 2014

Alan Mulally in 1945 Born in Kansas, USA, on August 4, he received a master's degree in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor's and master's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Kansas.

In September 2006, 49-year-old Bill Ford announced his resignation and handed the baton to former Boeing President Alan Mulally. Allen retired in July 2014 and Mark became the new CEO. Neither Allen nor Mark are family members.

When he took over as CEO of Ford in 2006, Ford suffered a massive loss of US$12.7 billion and was on the verge of collapse. He set a new direction for Ford's development: focusing on the Ford brand, producing products that meet different market needs, promoting fewer but more refined brand-name products, and producing cars with first-class quality, safety, energy saving and more value experiences.

Mulally also entered the automotive industry from another industry, and he used his position to break various outdated practices. The first new car developed during his tenure, the Ford Taurus, was much more stylish than the old model. This car has a swooping roofline and a more aggressive stance.

Mulally also promoted a group of young executives, such as Joe Hinrichs, the head of the manufacturing department who had just entered his 40s. In addition, Mulally helped people under 50 years old Mark Fields, president of the Americas region, solidifies leadership. He also reused experienced senior executives such as Derrick Kuzak.

11. Mark Fields

Served as Ford CEO from 2014 to May 2017

Mark Fields was born in 1961 In 2012, he was promoted to Ford COO and has led Ford's global business operations and most technical teams, including product development, manufacturing, procurement, marketing, sales and service.

Mark Fields was born in Brooklyn, New York City, and grew up in New Jersey. After receiving a bachelor's degree in economics from Rutgers University, he successfully obtained an MBA from Harvard University. On July 1, 2014, Mark Fields succeeded Alan Mulally as CEO of Ford Motor Company.

After Ford decided to lay off large-scale layoffs, the first person to be "fired" turned out to be the CEO, and his replacement was Jim Huck, chairman of Ford Smart Mobility LLC. Special (Jim Hackett).

12. Jim Hackett,

Took over as CEO in May 2017

Jim Hackett has been CEO since March 2016 He has since served as executive chairman of Ford Intelligent Mobility, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company, and served as a member of the Ford Motor Board of Directors from 2013 to 2016. Jim Hackett is also a recognized business leader who has successfully led companies to achieve strategic transformation. He has successful management experience in his resume. The Ford Motor Board of Directors gave him this important task out of many considerations.

After taking office, Jim Hackett, together with Bill Ford, Executive Chairman of the Ford Motor Company Board of Directors, focused on three primary strategic goals: strengthening the execution of the company's operations and improving the performance of Ford's existing businesses. degree of modernization and promote the transformation of the company to meet future challenges.

Since taking office in May 2017, Hackett has been relied upon by Wall Street to reform Ford, boost profits and boost stock prices. But with Hackett's performance recovery plan making slow progress, investors' patience appears to be wearing thin.

Hackett was convinced that he was putting Ford on the right path by combining traditional Rust Belt approaches (but further cutting costs) with new ideas about what people wanted from cars.

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.