CAC Auto

Ford Now Able to Pay Back Company Chairman

Things have begun to look very good indeed for the Detroit, Michigan based car maker Ford Motor Company. Only a few days ago, the top auto maker in the United States announced that they are going to be able to pay their own executive chairman for the first time since 2005. William Clay Ford Jr., the chairman in question, has not been paid since then because Ford has not had a profitable year since that time. As the great grandson of the founder of Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford himself, Ford Jr. will be able to receive a little over $4 million in cash in 2010, as well as stock options that he has which are worth a total of just under $12 million. These new details have come courtesy of a filing that the company gave to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

That figure, posted half a decade after Ford’s great grandson was first unable to be paid, also show compensation that he earned since 2008. Ford Jr. agreed to defer that money until the company was able to return to profitability in its auto making operations and he voluntarily went without pay in the years 2006 and 2007 in order to help his company achieve that goal. The compensation committee for Ford Motor decided that now is the time to give Mr. Ford what he is owed because the company is in such sound financial shape said Mark Truby, the spokesman for the auto maker. In order to arrive at this decision, the group took a look at the most recent profits the company has earned, in addition to the outlook for 2010 and 2011 alike. They came to the conclusion that the growth of Ford Motor Company will be able to be sustained without any problems. This is great news for those who own stock in the company and it may help raise the value of used cars bearing the Ford mark, as well.

In response to the news, Ford Jr. notified his employees that he very much appreciated their efforts to get the company back to a profitable state via email and let them know that he would be paid, in the interest of doing business in a fair and open way.

This is ironic news for some, considering that in 2005, Ford Motor was considered to be in the worst shape of all the big three Detroit car makers, but after 5 straight quarters of profitability, few critics will argue with the company’s decision.