FORD

It’s the final decades of the 19th century. The United States of America, born just 100 years earlier, are still largely a farmland economy. The Industrial Revolution, however, is beginning to reshape skylines: factories belching steam and steel are being built, the first skyscraper has just risen in Chicago, and on the shores of Lake Michigan, another invention is poised to rewrite the story of humankind: the automobile. It was in this backdrop of innovation and opportunity that Henry Ford was born in 1863, in Springwells Township, Michigan.

The first public car ever to run in the U.S. was a Duryea Motor Wagon, and the event took place in 1893 on Taylor Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. At the time, Henry Ford had just turned 30 and was already exploring the emerging car industry. The son of Irish immigrants, William and Mary Ford, he grew up on a family farm amidst rural simplicity, but he was never drawn to the plow. While his siblings embraced farm work, young Henry was fascinated by mechanical devices, disassembling and rebuilding clocks and machines with insatiable curiosity. Once, his father gave him a pocket watch: within hours, it lay in pieces on his workbench, only to be reconstructed with precision.

At sixteen, Ford left the family farm for Detroit to pursue a machinist apprenticeship, a pivotal move that parted him from his rural roots. The industrial city on the Great Lakes was thriving, and Ford quickly absorbed the mechanics of steam engines, locomotives, and machinery. In his spare time, he studied gas engines, a new technology imported from Europe.

By the 1890s, Henry was working as an engineer for the Edison Illuminating Company of Detroit, where his talent caught the attention of the famed inventor Thomas Edison. Encouraged by Edison himself, Ford dedicated his energy to creating a gasoline-powered vehicle. In June 1896, three years after Springfield’s Duryea debut, 33-year-old Henry unveiled his first automobile: the Quadricycle. It was a lightweight frame with four bicycle wheels and a small engine. It rattled noisily through Detroit’s streets at a modest 20 mph, but it signaled the beginning of a revolution.

Despite its roughness, the Quadricycle was successful. A few years later, in 1903, Henry founded the Ford Motor Company with the backing of several investors. While the company’s first car, the Model A, found moderate success, it was the introduction of the Model T that changed everything. Nicknamed the “Tin Lizzie,” the Model T, launched in 1908, was reliable, easy to maintain, and priced at $825 (equivalent to around $27,000 today)—still expensive for most Americans.

But Ford’s genius wasn’t only in the car itself. Five years later, he introduced the moving assembly line—an innovation that drastically reduced production times. Vehicles were assembled in a continuous flow, slashing build time from over 12 hours to just 90 minutes. By 1925, the Model T was being sold for just $260 (about $6,000 today). This radical drop in price enabled millions of Americans to buy their first car. The Model T fundamentally reshaped society.

Ford, though celebrated as an industrial visionary, was a complex figure. In 1914, he introduced the $5 workday, doubling wages and elevating workers’ living standards. However, the policy came with strings attached: Ford created a Sociological Department to monitor workers’ personal lives, inspecting homes and families to ensure they adhered to his strict moral code.

As his wealth grew, Ford became one of the richest men on Earth. By the early 1920s, his net worth was estimated at $1.2 billion (about $15 billion today). The River Rouge Complex, his massive factory in Dearborn, then a suburb of Detroit where Henry and Clara lived, became the largest industrial plant in the world—an icon of the 20th century’s industrial spirit.

While Henry Ford’s innovations propelled his company to dominance, his relationship with his son Edsel was fraught. Refined and artistic, Edsel envisioned a future of sleek, modern designs, while Henry remained committed to simplicity and practicality. Edsel’s push for innovation led to the Lincoln luxury line and the new Model A—a premium reimagining of Ford’s early car. But Henry undermined his son at every turn, refusing to relinquish control.

Publicly humiliated by his father, Edsel grew frustrated but remained loyal. He was a visionary in his own right, introducing hydraulic brakes and modern design innovations. Behind the scenes, Edsel lived a quiet life of luxury. The Ford family estate, Fair Lane, was a 1,300-acre mansion outside Detroit, near the Rouge Plant, with elaborate gardens, greenhouses, and servant quarters. Though the family-owned yachts, collected art, and mingled with high society, Edsel remained modest and focused on legacy rather than luxury.

Henry Ford’s final years were a mix of triumph and decline. In 1943, just months after the U.S. entered WWII, Edsel died of stomach cancer at age 49. His early death left the company without a clear successor. At age 80, Henry reluctantly resumed control, but his health and mental faculties were fading.

After WWII, Henry’s grandson, Henry Ford II - nicknamed “HF2”—took the reins, ushering in a new era. He restructured the company, modernized operations, and expanded globally. In the 1950s and 60s, Ford introduced iconic models like the Thunderbird and Mustang, cementing its status among the “Big Three” automakers alongside General Motors and Chrysler.

By then, the Ford family’s wealth had soared. They were America’s first industrial dynasty, with fortunes in the billions. Henry Ford II and his relatives lived in sprawling estates, collected priceless art, and flew in private jets. Yet, they remained philanthropic, supporting institutions like the Ford Foundation, one of the world’s largest charitable organizations.

Today, Ford Motor Company is still a global powerhouse, generating over $150 billion in annual revenue. The Ford name is etched into roads, buildings, and cultural foundations. Like the Dasslers of Adidas and Puma, the Fords left behind a legacy marked by innovation born of conflict, familial tension, and transformative wealth.

In the 21st century, the Ford family still wields influence in the automotive world, albeit more quietly. Though the company moved to professional management in the late 20th century, the family retains control through Class B shares, securing voting power.

William Clay Ford Jr., Henry Ford’s great-grandson, now serves as executive chairman. Bill Ford Jr. has led the charge toward sustainability and electrification, championing innovations like the Ford F-150 Lightning and autonomous driving technologies.

Henry Ford, buried alongside his wife Clara in Dearborn Cemetery, left more than factories and cars. He left a world forever changed—where steel and rubber carried dreams across horizons once unimaginable.