Ford - Timeline

John S. Gray June 16, 1903, John S. Gray invested $10,500.00 in the Ford Company. The $500.00 was tacked on to the $10,000.00 to secure John’s position as CEO of the Ford company.

Henry Ford I Ford company rolled out the first Model T 1908. In order to meet overwhelming demand. Ford introduced revolutionary new mass-production methods, including large production plants, the use of standardized, interchangeable parts and, in 1913, the world’s first moving assembly line for cars.

Henry Ford II One of his first acts as CEO was to place John Bugas in charge of taking control of the company from its entrenched management and firing Harry Bennett, head of the Ford Service Department, who had originally been hired by Henry Ford to stifle attempts at unionization. Next, acknowledging his inexperience, he hired several seasoned executives to support him. He hired former General Motors executives Ernest Breech and Lewis Crusoe.

Phillip Caldwell Approved and oversaw the development and launch of the Ford Taurus (and its corporate sister the Mercury Sable) which were introduced to the media days before his retirement, thus allowing him to take public credit for the Taurus program, which became one of the biggest successes in automobile business history.

Donald Petersen Turned around Ford's 1980 $1.5 billion one-year loss, with a record breaking series of new designs and revamped thinking that took the company into black ink and end-of-the-decade record sales, Petersen managed to increase Ford's U.S. car market share nearly 25 percent, from 17 percent in 1980 to 21 percent nine years later.

Harold Arthur Poling During a financial crisis in the early 1980s, Mr. Poling, as leader of Ford’s North American auto operations, approved spending $3 billion to engineer an aerodynamic sedan named Taurus that became the top-selling car in the United States.

Alex Trotman One of Trotman's main contributions at Ford was the Ford 2000 initiative, launched in 1995. This was an attempt to unify and consolidate Ford's manufacturing, marketing and product development forces around the world. The initiative produced $5 billion in cost savings, and produced $7 billion in profits for Ford in 1997.

Jacques Nasser Nasser promptly instituted a number of changes as CEO, closing plants that were losing money and selling unprofitable operations. He also instituted a new human resources policy mandating that 10 percent of low-performing managers could be subject to termination. Beyond human resources, Nasser's other focus was brand management, and under Nasser's watch, in 1999 Ford formed Premier Automotive Group (PAG) to expand its market share in the luxury segment.

William Clay Ford, Jr. As CEO, he improved quality, lowered costs and delivered exciting new products. During his time in that position he took the company from a $5.5 billion loss in 2001 to three straight years of profitability.

Alan Mulally One of Mulally's first decisions at Ford was to bring back the Taurus. Mulally Also led the effort for Ford to borrow $23.6 billion by mortgaging all of Ford's assets. Mulally said that he intended to use the money to finance a major overhaul and provide “a cushion to protect for a recession or other unexpected event". At the time, the loan was interpreted as a sign of desperation, but is now widely credited with stabilizing Ford's financial position

Mark Fields Fields oversaw the carmaker's recovery from the Great Recession and its most profitable year ever, 2015, when the company made almost $11 billion.But Ford shares slid by 30% under his leadership, as investors steadily worried about slackening auto profits in a potential US sales downturn

Jim Hackett Current CEO of Ford Motor Company