Bill Ford finding new purpose after 25 years as board chair

DETROIT — Bill Ford doesn't like to look back, but on this night, it was unavoidable.

Standing in the marbled halls of a long-abandoned train station he spent nearly $1 billion restoring as a symbol of the future for his family's company, the great-grandson of Henry Ford was minutes from being inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame, capping a year of milestones. It's been 45 years since he joined Ford Motor Co. as a product planning analyst and 25 years since he started chairing its board of directors.

His nearly half-century in the auto industry has been shaped by a host of challenges he ticks off like a grocery list: the dot-com bubble, the Rouge factory explosion, the Firestone tire debacle, the financial crisis that put Ford's two chief rivals into bankruptcy and the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2006, at arguably the height of his power, he essentially fired himself as CEO to help save the company.

It's been a full career, but Bill Ford wants to make one thing clear: He's not done yet.

"It's obviously a great honor and I'm happy that it's happened," Ford told Automotive News about becoming a hall of famer. "But part of me resisted it because it feels like it's the end of the trail when something like this happens, and I don't feel like that's where I am."

At 67, Ford said he is driven to continue working to uphold the company's corporate values and make sure it's positioned to thrive for future generations. Going into his 26th year as chair, Ford says he's found new purpose in sharing his experiences.

"I never thought I'd get to this, but I'm the elder statesman now," Ford said. "And people in the company come to me now for wisdom, and I don't fight it. But I have seen a lot, I've been through a lot, I know a lot of people around the world. So this isn't my first rodeo. And because of that, I can give some perspective to our management team, and to Jim."

That's CEO Jim Farley, who recalled getting a particular piece of advice from Bill Ford to help guide his thinking during the last four years.

"He said, 'Jim, a lot of the problems that walk into your office are 51-49,' " Farley said in an interview. " 'There will be a lot of gray and you will have no idea how to prepare for that decision. It could be the politics of today, a strike, whatever.' He said, 'My advice to you, when you don't have a playbook, is do your research as best you can, and then listen to your gut. Don't overly listen to any one person, just listen to yourself, and then make the call and don't look back.' "

Ford has become an elder statesman not only for the company bearing his name, but for the entire auto industry, particularly in Detroit.

That was most evident at the outset of the pandemic in 2020. Ford played a key role in coordinating a shutdown among the Detroit 3, placing individual calls to Michigan political leaders, General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Chairman John Elkann and the UAW's president at the time, Rory Gamble.

They all got on a conference call, and days later, factories across the U.S. closed.

The pandemic was not Bill Ford's first crisis.

In February 1999, one month after he became chairman, a boiler exploded at a power plant within the sprawling Rouge Complex in Dearborn, killing six workers and injuring 12. Ford arrived at the scene in less than two hours. He later called it "the worst day of my life."

Seven years later, he pledged his family name — in the form of the automaker's Blue Oval logo — as part of the collateral for a loan package to remain solvent during the financial crisis and ensuing recession. He hired Alan Mulally to replace him as CEO and ultimately keep the company out of bankruptcy.

"I've been through all those really tough times, yet we keep coming out and keep coming out strong," Ford said. "I'm so proud of the fact that I think I'm pretty resilient and the company's very resilient. We've taken a lot of body blows over those years."

Throughout his career, Ford has championed the environment and worked to make the automaker more sustainable.

It wasn't always a popular position.

"When I started talking about the environment when I was a young man at Ford, everybody rolled their eyes," he said. "There was no appetite in the senior ranks to do anything proactive."

His career accomplishments include prodding the company to publish its first corporate citizenship report in 2000 and championing green vehicles such as the Escape hybrid. He also transformed the Rouge Complex into a more environmentally friendly site, installing a living roof atop Dearborn Truck Plant.

Ford said the driving force behind his environmental advocacy was to protect the reputation of his family business.

"I wanted to remove anything negative that was attached to our company," he said. "It got into our recruiting. I didn't want to have the best and brightest not want to work for us. It was certainly our corporate reputation. I just felt it was my mission, if I could, to take away any negatives that would surround our company, and elevate our positives."

He believes the industry is taking its impact on the environment more seriously now.

"I think we've come so far," he said. "If you just look at the carbon footprint of a vehicle today, it's been reduced so drastically versus what it once was."

Ford also is encouraged by the automaker's path toward electrification, despite having to alter and delay some plans.

"I think we have the most flexibility as we're on this journey, and that gives me a lot of comfort," he said. "Other companies don't have the flexibility that we do. The pure EV startups don't; they have a balance-sheet issue in many cases because the uptake wasn't as quick as the whole industry thought it would be. Some of the legacy OEMs don't have hybrids and don't have a clear path toward electrification.

"Am I confident? I'm confident we'll be there when this is sorted out."

When Ford took charge of the board in January 1999, he replaced Alex Trotman, who was both chairman and CEO from 1993 to 1998.

Whenever he steps down, Bill Ford said he'd love to see another family member take his place — if one is qualified.

"I think, I hope, that there will always be family heavily involved in the company," he said. "Should one succeed me as chair? If they're ready."

Three of Ford's children could one day be an option.

Alexandra Ford English has been with the company since 2017 and was elected to the board in May 2021. She serves on the finance committee and the sustainability, innovation and policy committee.

William Clay Ford III started last year as general manager of Ford Performance. Nick Ford joined the company this September, working for CFO John Lawler.

Ford said when Nick approached him about taking a job at the company, he asked his son why he wanted to work in the auto industry. The answer he got: "I really want to work on something that means something to me. And Ford does."

In his Sept. 19 induction speech, Bill Ford said that whenever he retires, he'll be most proud "to hand over to the next generation a company that stands for something beyond profits."

It's as close as he'll come to discussing his own legacy, saying in an interview that he has "no idea" what it will be.

"A legacy is just something that … you can't plan for it, it's a summation of everything you've done, good and bad," Ford said. "All the great things, all the screwups — that's all part of your legacy."

Farley is a bit more direct.

"I think Bill Ford's legacy hasn't been written yet," he said. "It will be the work we're doing now. In 120 years, this is the most disruptive period and the work we're doing now, we're in the third inning of a nine-inning game. So I think his legacy will really be written as we speak."