Ford's Alex Trotman to Retire Jan. 1, 1999
11 September 1998
Ford's Alex Trotman to Retire Jan. 1, 1999; William Clay Ford, Jr., Elected Chairman of the Board; Jac Nasser Elected President and CEO
This is the Time for the Next Generation to Lead Us Into the 21st Century,
Says Trotman
DEARBORN, Mich., Sept. 11 -- Alex Trotman, Ford Motor Company
chairman, president and chief executive officer, has announced that
he will retire on Jan. 1, 1999, after 43 years with the company. Trotman, 65,
has been chairman, president and chief executive officer since Nov. 1, 1993.
"We have made tremendous progress with our globalization plans and with
the overall improvements in the performance of the company since we embarked
upon Ford 2000. So, I have advised the Board that we should move our
succession plans forward rather than wait until the end of next year, which
was our original estimate," said Trotman.
"The company has successfully re-invented itself over the past four years
with the installation of Ford 2000 into the daily operations of the business.
The next five years will require us to go to the next level, and continue to
improve and take competitive advantage of the changes we have made. I believe
-- and the Board agrees -- that this is the time for the next generation to
take charge and lead us into the 21st century," said Trotman.
William Clay Ford, Jr., the great grandson of Henry Ford, has been elected
chairman of the Board of Directors and Jac Nasser has been elected president
and chief executive officer of Ford Motor Company, both effective on Jan. 1,
1999. Effective immediately, Nasser has been elected to the Board of
Directors.
"Over these past several months, the Board has discussed succession
following my retirement and has concluded that the roles of the chairman and
of the chief executive officer should be separated," said Trotman. "Jac is
already running the largest part of the company and, with Bill as chairman of
the Board, we have tremendous strength and continuity as we move forward."
All the company activities that report to Alex Trotman will report to Jac
Nasser, together with the operations that report to Nasser today.
"It is an honor to lead the Board as its chairman and I know full well the
enormous responsibilities of that task," said Ford. "I sincerely believe that
this great company that has achieved so much in the past 95 years also has
enormous potential yet to be fulfilled. I look forward to continuing to work
closely with Jac Nasser. We have established that the leadership of the Board
of Directors is under the chairman and the leadership of the company is under
the chief executive. We both believe that will make a strong partnership."
"Ford Motor Company is my heritage, and has always been part of my life.
I want to serve this company to the very best of my ability. I intend to lead
the Board in its support for the management running the business. My vision
for the company is product leadership, the highest quality and customer
satisfaction, and environmental leadership. If we get these right, we will
lead in shareholder value. We recognize that we have multiple bottom lines,
so shareholder value, customer value and leading in corporate citizenship are
interwoven as our goals."
"Alex has changed the face and the spirit of Ford during his tenure as
chief executive and, indeed, over his entire career," said Nasser. "Ford 2000
signifies a new beginning to the way we run the business and our role is to
build on that strong foundation and carry it forward with energy, enthusiasm
and drive."
"The thanks of all our shareholders and employees should be extended to
Alex Trotman for the visionary leadership role he has played during these past
five years as he has driven the company to new heights," Nasser said. "During
his tenure, we have built the strongest product line-up in our history, our
quality levels are the best ever, and we have achieved record profits."
"This has been a marvelous period through which Alex has led the company.
Since Nov. 1, 1993, when Alex became chairman, the company's total shareholder
return has averaged about 25 percent annually. In fact, the total return over
the five years has been 185 percent. That beats the S & P 500 returns. As a
result, the market value of the company has nearly tripled. I know he and
Valerie are looking forward to the years ahead with great anticipation and
pleasure."
Nasser continued: "The Ford team has made much progress toward our goals,
but we know we have much to do to achieve our goal of becoming the world's
leading auto company. We must continue to develop the potential of the
company and the talents of the many Ford people around the world so that we
best serve our shareholders, our customers and society at large."
"Our employee team -- 363,000 strong -- is dedicated to those goals and I
am proud to lead and work with all our employees to achieve and exceed them."
Ford Motor Company was founded on June 17, 1903, and became a publicly
held company on Jan. 16, 1956. In 1997, the company earned a record $6.9
billion on revenues of $153.6 billion from its automotive and financial
services businesses. In the first half of 1998, the company reported net
income of $3.895 billion.