Meet the Henry Ford family: Inside the lives of this legendary automobile dynasty

• The Ford family has amassed significant wealth through the Ford Motor Company.
• Henry Ford founded the company in 1903 and revolutionized automobile manufacturing.
• Fordism, introduced in 1914, combined large-scale production with higher wages.

The name Ford has now become synonymous with the car industry, and the family behind it has also amassed significant wealth.

Henry Ford, considered to have revolutionized automobile manufacturing, founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903. He not only introduced the groundbreaking Ford Model T, one of the first mass-produced, affordable vehicles, but Ford also helped the American middle class take off.

In 1914, he offered workers $5 a day (roughly equivalent to $150 now, according to the Ford website) for working eight-hour shifts. This system, later dubbed "Fordism," started an industry trend of "large-scale production combined with higher wages," according to the company's website .

Over a century later, Ford remains one of the world's most influential and largest automakers. Although Henry Ford's descendants have stayed relatively under the radar, here's a rundown of what we know about them.

Henry Ford was born in 1863 on a farm in Springwells Township, Michigan.

Ford, the eldest of six children, began showing an interest in mechanics at a young age, constructing his first steam engine at 15.

In 1891, he became an engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company of Detroit and chief engineer two years later. He constructed a small one-cylinder gasoline model, eventually creating the first Ford engine. A later version of the engine would be used in his first automobile, the Quadricycle , in 1896.

By 1901, he founded the Henry Ford Company, later the Cadillac Motor Car Company, which he left the next year.

In 1903, Ford and 12 others invested $28,000 to create the Ford Motor Company and sold the company's first car that same year. He became president and controlling owner by 1906, and he, his wife, and son became sole owners of the company by 1919.

Henry Ford was estimated to be worth $100 million in 1918, according to Forbes.

Henry Ford and his wife Clara Jane Bryant only had one son, Edsel, who became president of the company in 1919 until his death 24 years later. Edsel introduced the Ford Model A , a more powerful and sleek vehicle that became the company's second market success.

Henry Ford resumed control over the company until 1945 before passing his position to his grandson, Henry Ford II.

The company is currently valued at around $40 billion and is considered one of the Big Three in US automakers, alongside General Motors and Stellantis (formerly Chrysler).

Henry Ford II negotiated with Enzo Ferrari to buy Ferrari during the 1960s, but it ultimately fell through.

Edsel and his wife, Eleanor Lowthian Clay, had four children: Henry Ford II, Benson Ford Sr., Josephine Clay Ford, and William Clay Ford Sr.

Henry Ford II's negotiations with Ferrari led to the Ford GT40 project , intended to design a racing car that could compete in prominent races such as the 12 Hours of Sebring and Le Mans. The project eventually won four consecutive Le Mans victories, some of which were later depicted in the 2019 Oscar-nominated film "Ford v Ferrari."

The Ford family has controlled the NFL's Detroit Lions franchise since 1963.

Henry Ford's youngest grandchild, William Clay Ford Sr., became a minority owner and team president of the Detroit Lions in 1961. Two years later, he bought out the other 144 other minority shareholders for $4.5 million to assume total control of the team.

He would remain the team's sole owner for 50 seasons until his death in 2014. At that time, Forbes estimated his net worth to be $1.35 billion.

William Clay Ford Sr. also briefly served as chairman of the Detroit Cougars, an American professional soccer team that competed in the USA and NASL before dissolving in 1968.

Although the Fords have a minority stake in the company, they control 40% of the voting power by owning special class stock, according to CNBC.

Henry Ford has 12 living great-grandchildren: Charlotte M. Ford, Anne Ford, Edsel Ford II, Benson Ford Jr., Lynn Ford Alandt, Eleanor Clay Ford Sullivan, Josephine Clay Ford Ingle, Alfred Brush Ford, Martha Parke "Muffy" Ford Morse, Sheila Ford Hamp, William Clay Ford Jr., and Elizabeth Ford Kontulis. One of his great-grandsons, Walter Buhl Ford III, died in 2010.

The Ford Family maintains control over the company via Class B shares, which account for only 2% of the company but 40% of the voting power, CNBC reported .

William Clay Ford Jr. has been chairman of the board of directors since 1999 and was named CEO in 2001. He also briefly assumed the roles of company president and COO in 2006 before stepping down from all three roles later that year, naming former Boeing senior executive Alan Mulally as his successor.

Henry Ford's granddaughter-in-law had a net worth of $1.4 billion in 2019, according to Forbes.

Although all four of Ford's grandchildren have since died, William Clay Ford Sr.'s wife, Martha Firestone Ford, is still alive.

Their marriage also united two business empires, as Martha's father was Harvey Firestone, the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. One of the first mass tire producers, the company was eventually bought by Bridgestone Corporation.

Following her husband's death, Martha became the owner and chair of the Detroit Lions for six seasons before her daughter, Sheila Ford Hamp, succeeded her in 2020.

Martha is now the franchise's owner and chair emeritus, and her other three children also serve as owners and vice chairs of the team.

Current Detroit Lions principal owner and chair Sheila Ford Hamp has her own athletic background.

Sheila was part of the first class of women admitted to Yale University, where she joined the varsity tennis team. According to the Detroit Lions' website, she had competed nationally as a junior tennis player, winning a Michigan state tennis title at 17 years old.

During a teleconference following announcing Sheila's new role as the team's owner, she explained how her background made her a "very competitive person," the Detroit Free Press reported .

"I grew up playing competitive tennis," she said. "It's an individual sport and I'm out there by myself and, boy, I hated to lose. I still hate to lose."

She also has coached youth soccer for over a decade in Ann Arbor.

Henry Ford's great-grandson Edsel Ford II was awarded a Landmark Award in NASCAR's Hall of Fame in 2020.

Ford Motor Company has been heavily involved in motorsports and is currently one of three manufacturers in NASCAR's three main series, the Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Truck Series.

Edsel Ford II, who attended his first race in 1966 at 17 years old, said that racing has been "one of the great passions" of his life. Eddie Wood, of the family-owned Wood Brothers Racing team, reportedly called Edsel "the godfather of Ford racing."

"He makes a point to check in regularly — in person — with all the NASCAR Ford teams and the excitement and commitment to the sport is palpable," Edsel's NASCAR Hall of Fame biography says.

Edsel served on the Ford Motor Company board of directors for 33 years before retiring in 2021 .

Chief Dealer Engagement Officer Elena Ford is the first woman in the Ford family to hold an executive position at the company.

Henry Ford's great-great-grandchild first joined the company in 1995 and was named Chief Dealer Engagement Officer in 2018.

Elena also sold a Southampton, New York, mansion to makeup artist and entrepreneur Tris McEvoy and her husband for $5.5 million in 2000, The Wall Street Journal reported . The 8,500-square-foot home, built in 1998, reportedly went back on the market for $23.5 million in 2018.

Jule Pond, a Hamptons estate originally built for Henry Ford's eldest grandson, sold for a record-breaking $105 million in 2021.

Formerly called "Fordune," the 42-acre property was first constructed in 1960 for Henry Ford II. Originally listed with an asking price of $145 million, the 20,000-square-foot property sold for "the highest price achieved for a single property in the Hamptons' history," Bespoke Real Estate, the brokerage in charge of the deal, wrote in a Facebook post .

The beachfront mansion boasts the largest ocean frontage in the Hamptons and is surrounded by several ponds, Business Insider previously reported.

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