Ford's Future

Henry II steps out--partly

The plump, graying man stood up in his shirtsleeves last week in the sweltering 88DEG heat of Melbourne, Australia, and made a surprising announcement. Said Chairman Henry Ford II to his firm's local managers: "By the end of this year I will have relinquished my executive responsibilities with the Ford Motor Co."

Thus the celebrated dynast signaled that he was letting go of a $43 billion company he has headed for 34 years. It has been generally thought that Ford would start phasing out after Sept. 4, 1980, when he turns 63. He apparently speeded up the timetable for several reasons.

He has been troubled by problems, from recalls and suits over the safety of earlier Pintos to a widely publicized shareholders' suit against himself (since thrown out of court) to a messy separation from his second wife Christina. Since an angina attack hospitalized him three years ago, Ford has aged, and has paid close attention to setting up a succession by trusted subordinates and family members.

Last July Ford fired President Lee Iacocca, who was later replaced by Philip Caldwell. Some time before Jan. 1, Caldwell will probably replace Ford as chairman as well as chief executive, and Executive Vice President William O. Bourke, 51, is expected to move to the president's post; both are highly able, although less colorful than Ford. Meanwhile, Henry's brother William Clay Ford, 54, is expected to remain as chairman of the executive committee. Henry Ford may stay on as chairman of a revised finance committee and a director. Said one Ford Motor Co. insider: "As long as he has the power to hire and fire chief executives, don't count him out."

Henry's only son, Edsel, 30, is expected to move to Detroit from his job as assistant managing director of Ford's Australia operations. He is enthusiastic and well liked. Says a former boss: "Edsel is like his father--more savvy than smart." Henry II has long hoped that Edsel would eventually become chief; yet even though the Ford family owns 40% of the voting stock, it is by no means certain that there is an Edsel in Ford's future. Said Henry II, as Edsel listened impassively in the audience: "It is very difficult to predict for a young man who is 30 what his situation is going to be when he is 50."

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