The Ford family is an American family from the U.S. state of Michigan. They are best known for their control of the Ford Motor Company automobile manufacturer which was originally founded by Henry Ford in the early twentieth century. Henry's grandson William Clay Ford Sr. and his family have controlled the Detroit Lions franchise of the National Football League since late 1963. The Ford family are also members of the Episcopal Church.

Although the Ford family's ownership stake in the automaker had declined to less than 50% of the company's equity as of 2010, the family retained operational control through a special class of stock that was established early in the company's history and retained when the company made its initial public offering in 1956. The family owns all of the company's Class B shares, which are collectively entitled to elect 40% of the company's board of directors, with the remaining 60% elected by the holders of the company's publicly traded common stock.

Family tree

Businesses

The following is a list of companies in which the Ford family have held a controlling or otherwise significant interest.

• Dearborn Independent
• Detroit Lions
• Fontinalis Partners
• Ford Lio Ho Motor
• Ford Motor Company
• Ford Otosan
• Ford Times
• Getrag Ford Transmissions
• Matford
• Pentastar Aviation
• Philco-Ford
• Samcor

References

Further reading

• Wilson, Richard Guy (2000). America's Castles: The Auto Baron Estates. A&E Television Network.
• Bridenstine, James (1989). Edsel and Eleanor Ford House. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-2161-5.
• Lewis, David (1976). The Public Image of Henry Ford: An American Folk Hero and His Company. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 9780814318928.

External links

• Ford Family Tree
• Henry Ford II Biography on IMDB
• Henry Ford Estate
• The Ford Legacy
• The Ford Family Archived 2020-12-02 at the Wayback Machine
• A Family Portrait Archived 2019-09-09 at the Wayback Machine
• Anne Ford Johnson Obituary