Bill Ford, also known as William Clay Ford Jr., made $20,613,100 last year, although Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) stumbled. Ford’s executive chair is the de facto chief executive officer because his family holds voting control of the company. The person with the chief executive title, President and CEO Jim Farley, essentially works for Bill Ford. James D. Farley Jr. made $26,470,033. Ford’s proxy showed that Farley made 312 times more than the median pay of a Ford worker. That means, if the compensation of both men is taken together, the figure would be closer to 600 to 1.
Ford’s shares went sideways last year. They started the year trading at about $12 and ended the year at the same level. The S&P 500 rose 24% over the same period. (Bull, base, and bear Ford stock price predictions for 2030.)
Ford could be judged on several metrics from 2023, but the market primarily evaluates Ford on its electric vehicle (EV) business. Bill Ford once said that the launch of the F-150 Lightning, Ford’s EV flagship, was the most important launch of his career. The company changed the price of the Lightning at least four times. Sales were far below expectations. Ford then pulled the plug on some of the Lightning’s production capacity and said the markets for EVs were not as strong as it had expected.
Bill Ford’s net worth has been pegged at over $1 billion. Given his company’s failure with EVs, after describing them as Ford’s future, it should have been enough for him to pay himself $1, as CEOs of some companies have done in the past. (Warren Buffett’s base pay last year was $100,000.) It would be an acknowledgment that Ford is driving in reverse.
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