William Clay Ford, Jr. Net Worth: William Clay Ford, Jr. is an American businessman who has a net worth of $1 billion dollars. William Clay Ford, Jr. was born May 13, 1957 in Detroit, Michigan. Ford is the great-grandson of Henry Ford and best known as the Executive Chairman of Ford Motor Company. Ford is also the Vice Chairman of the Detroit Lions NFL franchise. William Clay Ford, Jr. is a lifelong futurist on urban mobility and the environment. He holds an M.S. in Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.A. from Princeton University. He joined the Ford company in 1979 and held a variety of positions, beginning in product development and also serving on the financial staff, a grooming ground for future executives. He briefly headed the Climate Control Division. Ford gave up an executive position in heavy truck program management to become chairman of the finance committee on the Board of Directors, a non-executive corporate position. He was elected Chairman of the Board in September 1998 and took office on January 1, 1999. Ford added the title of CEO to his résumé on October 30, 2001, following the dismissal of then-CEO Jacques Nasser, a move to change corporate values focus from maximizing corporate profits and shareholder value to valuing people and tradition. With the retirement of Ford President and COO Jim Padilla in 2006, Ford assumed those roles as well. Also in 2006, Ford announced he was stepping down as President and CEO, naming former Boeing senior executive Alan Mulally as his replacement. Ford continues as the company’s Executive Chairman. In 2011, Ford was inducted into Irish America magazine’s Hall of Fame.