Ford Family Control Not Set in Stone
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. (F) Chairman Bill Ford said the Ford family, which controls a 40% voting interest in the automaker, would be willing to consider giving up some of that stake “if the right thing” came along.
Speaking during an interview on CNBC, Mr. Ford said that the “Ford family wants the company to succeed, period.” But he added that it’s hard to speculate because discussions of any possible alliance or taking the company private is “all hypothetical. We certainly would look at everything.”
Some analysts have said that family control would dissuade some executives from joining the struggling auto maker. The family controls 40% of the voting power through Class B shares.
Mr. Ford was on TV to discuss the hiring on Tuesday of new Chief Executive Alan Mulally, a senior executive at Boeing Co. (BA), which ended Mr. Ford’s 5-year tenure in that position. Mr. Mulally said it was essential to him, however, that Mr. Ford remain chairman while he works on Ford’s recovery.
Ford lost $1.4 billion in the first half of the year and is speeding its restructuring plan in order to meet a goal of returning its core North American operations to profitability by 2008.
