I found this article really interesting because it is talking a lot about the slow restructuring of the Ford family at the highest levels. Many of the senior members are slowly but surely passing their vast amount of shares in the Ford Company to more junior members of the family like Bill Ford, Jr.
William Ford, Sr (Henry Ford's last surviving grandchild) owner 13.3% of the Class B shares last year and is now down to 9.5%. On the other hand, Bill Ford, Jr increased his stock from 5.8% last year to 6.9%.
Ford stock has recently been trending up so it will be interesting to see if this affects it in a positive or negative way. Since the family itself isn't actually selling off any of their stock overall I don't think it would be seen negatively necessarily. It seems to me that the older generation is just getting ready to pass the torch in the next few years. The only reason I could see this going negatively is if the younger generation is not seen as the best thing for the company. Since I don't follow the Ford Company I can't really weigh in on that argument.
It would be very interesting to hear the thoughts behind the structure of Ford Motor Company and try to understand the way the stocks are broken out and the number of voting stocks still controlled by Ford family members.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting. My husband is in the 4th generation of his family's business and they are starting the gifting process of their succession planning as well. It's key to implement these plans not only for the success of the company but also for tax purposes. When people work so hard to build up a company, the last thing they want to see is the government double dip into their life long investments due to poor planning on their part.
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