Top 3 Ford Motors Shareholders

Detroit, Michigan-headquartered Ford Motor (F) was launched out of a converted factory in 1903 by Henry Ford, with just $28,000 in cash from 12 investors. The global auto giant sells automobiles and commercial vehicles under the Ford brand and most luxury cars under its Lincoln brand. The long-time industry leader was one of the early pioneers of large-scale manufacturing and management of an industrial workforce, using moving assembly lines known around the world as “Fordism.” After surviving a rocky period during the Financial Crisis in the 2000s in which Ford nearly filed for bankruptcy, the automotive company has recovered and returned to profitability.

As America’s second-largest automaker with a market cap of $34.30 billion in October 2018, Ford has doubled down on next-gen technology such as artificial intelligence and self-driving cars. In February 2017, Ford acquired majority ownership of Argo AI, an artificial intelligence startup. In May 2017, the global corporation announced plans to reduce its Asian and North American workforce by 10% in order to address its declining share price and boost profits. Although Ford’s global workforce totaled 202,000 in 2017, up 18% from 2012, the company is shifting resources away from its factories and towards research, engineering, and development.

The company’s former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Fields oversaw the development of Ford Smart Mobility, a unit responsible for experimenting with car-sharing programs, autonomous vehicle ventures and other programs. In September 2017, it was announced that Ford would collaborate with ride-sharing app Lyft to deploy Ford autonomous cars on the roads by 2021.

Ford reported Q3 2018 earnings on October 24, 2018. The automotive company reported revenues of $34.7 billion, a 4% decrease from $36.5 billion in Q3 2017. As of October 2018, Ford is the second-largest automaker in the U.S. and fifth-largest in the world.

Here are the company's top 3 shareholders.

William Clay Ford Jr. is the great-grandson of founder Henry Ford and the current Executive Chairman. With 6.8 million shares of common stock at his disposal in March 2018, William "Bill" Ford is the company's largest shareholder. 

Bill Ford joined the company in 1979 as a product planning analyst. He was appointed to Executive Chairman in 1999 and became Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company in 2001, the first member of the Ford family to head the firm since the retirement of Henry Ford II in 1982. Bill Ford assumed the position of President and Chief Operation Officer (COO) in 2006, giving up his position of CEO to Alan Mulally and continuing as Executive Chairman. The executive has been a long-time proponent of investing in the fuel economy, driving Ford’s vision of becoming a player in the sustainable transportation space.

Bill Ford is the Chairman of the Board of the Detroit Economic Club, a member of the Board of Trustees of The Henry Ford and Henry Ford Health System, and is Chairman of the New Michigan Initiative of Business Leaders for Michigan. He also served on the board of eBay Inc. (EBAY) from 2005 to 2015.

Former Ford CEO Mark Fields was pushed out of his leadership position at Ford in May 2017 after spending some 28 years with the automaker. With 1.78 million shares of common stock as of the most recent SEC filing from March 2017, Fields is Ford’s second-largest shareholder.

The 56-year-old executive, who wanted to be an astronaut early on in life, joined Ford in 1989 and became its CEO in mid-2014. Previously, Fields served as the company’s COO and President of the Americas, where he developed “The Way Forward” plan. He worked around the world for the automaker and was named president and CEO of Mazda Motor Corp. in 2000 at age 38. In 2016, Fields’ pay jumped nearly 20% to $22.1 million while shares dipped about 14% over the same period. Shareholders lost faith in Fields, replacing him with 62-year-old Jim Hackett, the former head of Ford’s division that develops self-driving technology.

Joseph R. Hinrichs is the third-largest shareholder of Ford Motor Company. As of his most recent SEC filing in March 2018, Hinrichs owns 645,155 shares of the company.

Hinrichs has been executive vice president and president of Global Operations, Ford Motor Company since June 1, 2017. In this role, Hinrichs oversees Ford’s Global Product Development, Manufacturing and Labor Affairs, Quality, Purchasing, Sustainability, and Environmental and Safety Engineering. Previously, Hinrichs served as executive vice president and president of The Americas, a position he held since Dec of 2012.