William Clay Ford, Sr.

William Clay Ford, Sr.
Born	William Clay Ford (1925-03-14) March 14, 1925 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Residence	Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan
Citizenship	United States
Education	Yale University (BEc)
Occupation	Chairman of Detroit Lions, Executive of Ford Motor Company
Net worth	$1.25 billion (2013)
Spouse(s)	Martha Parke Firestone (m. 1947)
Children	Martha Parke Morse (b. 1948) Sheila Firestone Hamp (b. 1951) William Clay Ford, Jr. (b. 1957) Elizabeth Hudson Ford (b. 1961)
Parents	Edsel Bryant Ford Eleanor Lowthian Clay

William Clay Ford, Sr. (born March 14, 1925) is the youngest child of Edsel Bryant Ford, and last surviving grandchild of Henry Ford. He is the current owner, and chairman of the Detroit Lions, which plays in the National Football League.

Biography

Born on March 14, 1925, in Kansas City, Missouri, to parents Edsel Bryant Ford and Eleanor Lowthian Clay. Ford served in the U.S. Navy Air Corps during World War II. Following the War, Ford married Martha Parke Firestone, the granddaughter of Harvey Firestone and Idabelle Smith Firestone on June 21, 1947. They have four children together, Martha Parke Morse (b. 1948), Sheila Firestone Hamp (b. 1951), William Clay Ford, Jr. (b. 1957), and Elizabeth Hudson Ford (b. 1961). Ford received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Yale University in 1949, and was a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity. After graduating, Ford worked for the Ford Motor Company, and was briefly head of the Continental Division. Continental was short lived, and merged with the Lincoln Motor Company shortly before Ford's public stock offering. Ford updated the Continental that his father had created, and in 1955 the Continental Mark II was released. It is said there were only two pictures on his office wall, his father's Continental, and his updated Mark II. On April 10, 1952, bulk freighter SS William Clay Ford was named in honor of him. On November 22, 1963, Ford purchased a controlling interest in the Detroit Lions of the National Football League from the previous owners, Edwin Anderson and Lyle Fife for $4.5 million. He was also chairman of the short-lived Detroit Cougars professional soccer team that played in the USA and NASL leagues. Ford for a time, was chairman of the most important of the directors' committees, the Finance Committee. Ford sat on the Ford Board of Directors for 57 years, retiring on May 12, 2005. His son, William Clay Ford, Jr. was serving as Ford Motor Company's CEO at the time. According to the Forbes Magazine, Ford was the 373rd richest man in America, with a net worth of over $1.25 billion in 2013. Ford reportedly owns 6.7 million shares of Class B stock, and 26.3 million common shares, in other words, Ford is the largest single shareholder in the Ford Motor Company.

See also

• Ford family tree
• William Clay Ford, Jr.
• Ford Motor Company
• Lincoln Motor Company
• Continental Mark II

External links

• Detroit Lions: William Clay Ford, Sr. Biography
• Ford Motor Company: William Clay Ford, Sr. Biography
• Ford Motor Company: William Clay Ford: A Respected Company, Community and Sports Leader
• USA TODAY: William Clay Ford Sr. to retire from Ford Motor board
• Forbes 400: William Clay Ford, Sr. Profile
• Bloomberg Businessweek: William Clay Ford, Sr. Profile & Biography
• William Clay Ford Jr. Stands Ready to Steer Auto Maker
• Detroit Lions fans love to hate owner Williams Clay Ford Sr
• Bleacher Report: William Clay Ford Sr: The Right Owner For The Detroit Lions
• Crain's Detroit Business: Detroit Lions owner William Clay Ford Sr. is very different from Art Modell

Further reading

• Lacey, Robert, Ford, The Men and the Machine, 1986, Boston, Little Brown And Company. pp. 462–463, 642.