Who owns the Ford company now?
Ford Motor Company is a publicly traded company with no single owner. The Ford family maintains control through a dual-class voting structure, while public investors own the majority of the equity.
Ownership structure: public shares and family control
Ford operates with two classes of stock that separate voting power from economic ownership. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker F, and its public float sits alongside a family-led control bloc that holds higher-vote shares. The following section highlights how ownership is distributed among public investors and the family.
Largest public holders of Ford’s Class A common stock, according to recent regulatory filings, include several leading asset managers that collectively own a substantial portion of the public equity. The list below reflects the institutions most commonly reported as top holders in the latest available data.
- Vanguard Group, Inc.
- BlackRock, Inc.
- State Street Corporation
- Fidelity Investments
- Geode Capital Management
These institutions are among the largest owners of Ford’s publicly traded Class A shares, which represent the bulk of the company’s tradable equity. The exact percentages change with trading activity and new filings, but these names consistently appear near the top of ownership lists.
Family control through Class B shares
The Ford family exercises decisive control over the company through a separate class of shares that carry enhanced voting rights. Class B shares historically provide more votes per share than Class A shares, allowing the family and related entities to influence board composition, strategy, and major corporate decisions despite owning a smaller portion of the company’s overall economic value.
Constituents of this control structure include the Ford family and related entities that hold the majority of Class B stock. This means that, while public shareholders own a large portion of Ford’s equity, the family retains significant influence over governance and long-term direction through preferential voting rights.
- Class B shares carry higher voting power per share than Class A shares, concentrating control with the Ford family.
- The family and related entities hold the majority of Class B shares, enabling decisive influence over the board and strategy.
- Public ownership mainly comprises Class A shares, which do not confer the same level of voting authority.
In practical terms, this structure preserves the family’s long-standing leadership role while keeping Ford as a publicly traded company with broad investor participation around its economic performance.
Summary
Ford Motor Company is publicly traded with no single owner. The public and institutional investors own the majority of the equity through Class A shares, while the Ford family maintains control via Class B shares that carry enhanced voting rights. This dual-class setup means the family holds substantial influence over governance and strategic decisions, even as public shareholders participate in the company’s financial upside. For investors, Ford remains a broad, publicly traded company with a distinctive ownership structure that blends public capital with family-led governance.
