Which family remains a major controlling shareholder of Ford Motor Company?

The Ford family remains a major controlling shareholder of Ford Motor Company. Henry Ford founded the automobile company in Detroit in 1903 with backing from investors including Alexander Y. Malcomson.

Ford Motor Company went public in 1956, but the family retained disproportionate voting power through Class B shares. Those shares give the Ford family roughly 40 percent of voting rights despite representing a much smaller proportion of the company’s economic ownership.

Henry Ford’s son, Edsel Ford, became president in 1919, and later generations continued to hold board and executive roles. William Clay Ford Jr. served as executive chairman for many years.

The Ford family did not invent the company’s modern mass-production system alone, and the family does not own all Ford shares. Its influence comes chiefly from the dual-class voting structure and long-standing governance role.