Ford Motor Company management check
F · Consumer Discretionary · Automobile Manufacturers · CEO James D. Farley, Jr.
Filings as of
5 good · 1 to watch · 1 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Good
Have owners done well?
Beat its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $197, against $149 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Good
Does pay follow performance?
Pay rose and fell with returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.94 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Flag
What does the CEO cost owners?
Paid in a loss-making year$27.5m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, a year the company lost $8.2bn.
- Good
Do they own the stock?
Insiders are buying1 insider bought $149k on the open market in the last six months, with their own money, near the lows.
- Good
Are owners being diluted?
Share count shrinkingDiluted shares changed -0.8% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 0.3% of revenue in the latest year.
- Watch
Is leadership stable?
11 leadership filings in 3 yearsCEO in the pay table: James D. Farley, Jr.. 11 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Good
Are the books clean?
No red flags on fileNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2021.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Consumer Discretionary.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 90 | 70 | |
| Pay for performance | 97 | 79 | |
| CEO cost | 0 | 44 | |
| Skin in the game | 80 | 36 | |
| Dilution | 60 | 74 | |
| Stable leadership | 70 | 80 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Automobile Manufacturers, by management score. Ford Motor Company is 23rd of 47 in its sector.
- 38GMGeneral Motors83
- 164ORLYO'Reilly Automotive71
- 174FFord Motor Company71
- 176DHID. R. Horton71
- 184MGMMGM Resorts70
- 408TSLATesla, Inc.52
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed March 27, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | James D. Farley, Jr. | $27.5m | $49.2m | $14.9m | $197 | $149 | −$8.2bn |
| 2024 | — | $24.9m | $14.2m | $14.0m | $138 | $121 | $5.9bn |
| 2023 | — | $26.5m | $29.4m | $13.6m | $159 | $113 | $4.3bn |
| 2022 | — | $21.0m | −$14.9m | $12.4m | $137 | $85 | −$2.0bn |
| 2021 | — | $22.8m | $73.8m | $12.9m | $237 | $125 | $17.9bn |
The board says pay is tied most to Company Adjusted EBIT Margin. Its other key measures: Company Adjusted EBIT, Company Adjusted Free Cash Flow, Adjusted Return on Invested Capital, Company Revenue, Quality, rTSR of 2025 PSU TSR Peer Group.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
1 insider bought $149k on the open market in the last six months, with their own money, near the lows.
- BoughtJohn L ThorntonDirector$149kJun 23, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- Apr 15, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Dec 12, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 13, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 5, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Nov 7, 2024Leadership change8-K/A 5.02
- Oct 31, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jul 11, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 10, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 14, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Dec 15, 2023Leadership change8-K/A 5.02
- Dec 15, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Oct 18, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: May 19, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $14.8bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 56% of net income, and $2.1bn of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $136.3bn | $158.1bn | $176.2bn | $185.0bn | $187.3bn |
| Net income | $17.9bn | −$2.0bn | $4.3bn | $5.9bn | — |
| Stock-based pay | $305.0m | $336.0m | $460.0m | $511.0m | $510.0m |
| Buybacks | $0 | $484.0m | $335.0m | $426.0m | $0 |
| Dividends | $403.0m | $2.0bn | $5.0bn | $3.1bn | $3.0bn |
| Diluted shares | 4034m | 4014m | 4041m | 4021m | 3979m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.