The Man Up Top
by CP Staff
April 23 - An upbeat Bill Ford discussed first quarter earnings and answered questions from Ford Motor Company employees during a Town Hall meeting webcast company wide recently. Ford, who is chairman and chief executive officer, told workers that the company is healthy, profitable and poised to grow its share of the car market.
The news media took a rather different view of Ford's latest financial results. After five consecutive quarters of delivering profitable results, the company cut its 2005 earnings forecast and said it won't reach its 2006 earnings target, citing health-care expenses and rising steel costs. Some journalists are already saying that he is not tough enough, despite having made hard descisions when he rose to the company's top office. Thirty-five thousand jobs were eliminated, along with five production plants and the Lincoln Continental.
In January 2002 Mr. Ford announced a plan to restore the company to strong profitability by mid-decade. His revitalization plan is focused on improving quality, lowering costs and delivering exciting new products to customers. In the first year of the plan the financial performance of the company improved by nearly $5 billion.
Most plans need adjustment along the way. Significant changes in the business environment can stall progress. However, in the words of some wise person, "Failure is not falling down. Failure is not getting up." Bill Ford has a strong history with the company and significant contributions are found throughout. There is little reason to think that he would stop now.
Mr. Ford joined Ford Motor Company in 1979 as a product planning analyst. He subsequently held a variety of positions in manufacturing, sales, marketing, product development and finance. During the breakthrough 1982 Ford - United Auto Workers labor talks, which launched the employee involvement movement that revolutionized the industry, he served on the company's National Bargaining Team.
As head of Business Strategy for the Ford Automotive Group in 1990, Mr. Ford led a team that set guidelines and made recommendations for establishing low-volume manufacturing plants in developing countries at a substantial savings in total cost and no loss of quality.
After being appointed general manager of Climate Control Division in 1992, he led a profit turnaround and a major improvement in product quality. He also established the company's first wildlife habitat at a plant location and the first automotive plant in the world to use 25% post-consumer materials in all of its plastic parts. While he was general manager the division won the President's Commission on Environmental Quality Award for replacing a hazardous chemical in a production process with water.
While professing a passion for muscle cars, Bill Ford is also an environmentalist. When more than 450 Ford employees took part in the third annual Rouge River Clean-up, he was there with them. Volunteer efforts included clearing several logjams on the river, planting hundreds of native plants at Ford Field, stream bank and invasive species management along the river, and the planting of over 10,000 native plants at the Ford Rouge Office Building.
Bill Ford received no cash salary in 2004. In lieu of a cash salary equivalent to $1.5 million, he was awarded 103,882 shares of restricted common stock, tying his compensation to the long- term performance of the Company. He was awarded a 2004 bonus in the form of 841,008 shares of restricted common stock and restricted stock equivalents with a fair market value of approximately $10.5 million at the time of grant.
In lieu of other long-term compensation, he also received a stock option grant covering 1,587,301 shares. These options have a strike price of $16.49 and vest over a three year period. Mr. Ford also exercised stock options covering 1,410,404 shares, realizing a value of $5.3 million, at the same time retaining the acquired shares. In addition, he received other compensation totaling $266,000.
For the second year, Mr. Ford committed a portion of his bonus of restricted stock equivalents to the William Clay Ford, Jr. Scholarship Program, providing tuition assistance for children of Ford employees, and a remaining portion to Detroit charities.
Bill Ford was born in Detroit in 1957. He is an avid fly fisherman and car enthusiast, enjoys playing hockey and tennis, and is a black belt in the martial art of Tae Kwon Do. He holds a bachelor of arts degree from Princeton University and a master of science degree in management from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
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