William Clay Ford Net Worth

What is William Clay Ford's Net Worth?

William Clay Ford was an American businessman who had a net worth of $2.2 billion at the time of his death in 2014. The last surviving grandchild of automobile industrialist Henry Ford, he served on the boards of Ford Motor Company and the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation. Among his other endeavors, Ford owned the NFL's Detroit Lions from 1964 until his passing in 2014.

Early Life and Education

William Clay Ford was born on March 14, 1925 in Detroit, Michigan to Eleanor and Edsel. His paternal grandfather was automobile industrialist Henry Ford. As an adolescent, he attended the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut, graduating in 1943. Ford subsequently attended Yale University, where captained the soccer and tennis teams. His college career was interrupted by World War II and his service in the US Navy Air Corps. Ford returned to Yale and graduated in 1949 with a Bachelor of Science in economics.

Ford Motor Company and Henry Ford Museum

Following his graduation from Yale, Ford joined his family's Ford Motor Company, and briefly headed its Continental division. The division soon merged with the Lincoln Motor Company, and Ford went on to redesign his grandfather's Lincoln Continental as the Continental Mark II. Meanwhile, in 1948, Ford was appointed to Ford Motor Company's board of directors. In 1951, he became chairman of the board of the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn, Michigan, a position he held until 1983. From 1957 to 1989, Ford chaired Ford Motor Company's design committee. He served on the company's board of directors through the spring of 2005. Ford was reportedly the largest single shareholder in his family's company.

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Detroit Lions

In 1956, Ford entered the world of professional sports ownership when he became a minority owner of the NFL's Detroit Lions. He went on to become the team's president in 1961. A few years after that, taking advantage of the weakened position of Lions general manager Edwin J. Anderson, Ford purchased the entirety of the Lions franchise for $4.5 million. Under his ownership, which lasted until his death, the team won around 41% of its regular-season games and reached the playoffs ten times. Sixteen different head coaches were employed during his tenure. Ford was known especially for his unflagging fealty to certain people, even when they had questionable leadership, such as general manager and former Lions tackle Russ Thomas. During Thomas's leadership from 1967 to 1989, the Lions failed to win any postseason games. At the time of his passing in 2014, Ford had the second-longest tenure among current NFL owners, after the Buffalo Bills' Ralph Wilson.

Other Appointments

Among his other business appointments, Ford sat on the board of the historic Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts. He also served on the board of Seaboard Properties, which managed the historic Botsford Inn and Dearborn Inn. Elsewhere, Ford briefly chaired the short-lived professional soccer team the Detroit Cougars.

Personal Life and Death

In 1947, Ford married Martha Firestone, the granddaughter of tire magnate Harvey Firestone and composer and songwriter Idabelle Smith. The two wed in Akron, Ohio, where their nuptials were deemed "the biggest society wedding in Akron's history" by the Akron Beacon Journal. Ford and Firestone had four children together: Martha, Sheila, William Jr., and Elizabeth. William Jr. served as the CEO and COO of Ford Motor Company, while the other three children have all been involved with the Detroit Lions. In 2020, Sheila became the principal owner and chair of the Lions, succeeding her mother.

On March 9, 2014, just before his 89th birthday, Ford passed away from pneumonia at his home in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan. He was interred in Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit near his parents and his brother Benson.

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