Some business consultants help family enterprises steer through the transition to a second or third generation.
Great-great grandfather of some current employees, shown with a 1921 Model T. [Photo from The Henry Ford]
Not a problem for a certain Dearborn-based carmaker where the founder's great-great grandkids are among executive trainees.
Besides chairman Bill Ford Jr., eight other descendants of Henry Ford work at the car company that bears the family name, Mike Ramsey reports in a multimedia Wall Street Journal feature.
Most are just starting their careers. . .
At a time when nonfamily Ford shareholders are showing signs of discontent with the Ford family's effective control via super-voting stock, more members of the family than ever are now working at the auto maker, say company officials. And several more young Fords could join the ranks over the next few years, family members say. . . .
Ford family members who join the company start in relatively low-level salaried jobs. A Ford spokeswoman said family members aren't exempt from the standard hiring process.
"There are no guarantees for any of them," Bill Ford Jr. says.
The 56-year-old chairman, a fourth-generation member, tells Ramsey he works to recruit relatives in the belief that shareholders benefit.
"They know there is going to be someone there through thick and thin who isn't going to take a golden parachute and run somewhere," he said.
An accompanying family tree graphic shows who's where, as well as which of ancestors worked under the blue oval. There's also a four-minute video. (See, it's not your dad's Journal anymore.)
These are among descendants on the payroll, as mentioned by Ramsey:
- Edsel Ford II, board member (cousin of chairman)
- Elena Ford, 47, VP of global dealer and consumer experience
- Henry Ford III, 33, marketing executive in Irvine, Calif.
- Calvin Ford, 29, zone sales manager in Denver
- Jody Ingle, 32, vehicle interior designer in Dearborn
- Alessandro Uzielli, 46, head of global brand entertainment office in Hollywood, Calif. (son of Anne Ford)
-- Alan Stamm
