Jim Farley (businessman)

James Duncan Farley Jr. (born June 10, 1962) is an American businessman who is CEO of Ford and a board member of Harley-Davidson.^[1] His career in automobiles was inspired by his grandfather, who began work at Henry Ford's River Rouge Plant in 1918.^[2]

Jim Farley
Born	James Duncan Farley Jr. (1962-06-10) June 10, 1962 (age 61) Buenos Aires, Argentina
Education	Georgetown University (BA) University of California, Los Angeles (MBA)
Years active	2007–present
Relatives	Chris Farley (cousin) Kevin Farley (cousin) John Farley (cousin) 3 children

Background

Farley was born to a banker father in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he spent his early years, before moving to Greenwich, Connecticut. Before university, Farley attended Portsmouth Abbey School, a Catholic, college preparatory school in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. He graduated from Georgetown University and then later, the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a cousin of the entertainers Chris Farley, Kevin Farley, and John Farley. He is also a cousin of Carolina Hurricanes TV analyst and former NHL and AHL player Tripp Tracy. ^[3]

Early career

Before joining Ford in November 2007, Farley was group vice president and general manager of Lexus, responsible for all sales, marketing, and customer satisfaction activities for Toyota’s luxury auto brand.^[4] From May 2019 to February 2020, Farley was president, New Business, Technology and Strategy. From June 2017 to May 2019, he was Executive Vice President and president of Global Markets. From 2015 to 2017, he was CEO and chairman of Ford Europe.

Senior career

On August 4, 2020, Ford announced that Farley would succeed Jim Hackett as the CEO of Ford on October 1, 2020. At the same time, it was announced that Hackett would retire and become a special advisor.^[5][6] In July 2021, Farley was nominated to join the board of directors for Harley-Davidson by the company's CEO Jochen Zeitz in an effort to revitalize the motorcycle maker and prepare it for an electric future.^[7][8]

References

1. "Executive Profile; Ford Motor Company; James D. (Jim) Farley, Jr". ford.com. October 1, 2020. from the original on December 1, 2020. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
2. "James D. Farley, Jr. | Ford Media Center". media.ford.com. from the original on January 2, 2020. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
3. Howard, Phoebe. "A man who can build a car by hand leads Ford into future; 'He's just never afraid'". Detroit Free Press. from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
4. "James D. Farley, Jr". Ford Media Center. from the original on January 2, 2020. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
5. "Ford Announces Jim Hackett to Retire as President and CEO" (PDF). shareholder.ford.com. Ford Motor Company. (PDF) from the original on August 2, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
6. Colias, Mike (August 4, 2020). "Ford Names Jim Farley as New CEO, Succeeding Jim Hackett". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
7. Brown, Kristen. "Harley-Davidson Nominates Ford CEO Farley to Join Its Board". Bloomberg. from the original on April 24, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
8. "Harley-Davidson names Ford's top executive to board, filling Chipotle CEO's seat". Milwaukee Business Journal. from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2021.

Business positions
Preceded by James Hackett	Chief Executive of Ford Motor Company 2020–present	Incumbent