Mark Fields (born January 24, 1961) is an American businessman and former chief executive officer of Ford Motor Company. Prior to his July 1, 2014, appointment, Fields served as the company's chief operating officer. Previously, as Ford's president of The Americas, Fields developed "The Way Forward" plan. He succeeded Alan Mulally as the company's president and CEO. Fields announced his retirement on May 22, 2017, with Jim Hackett succeeding him as president and CEO, Ford Motor Company.
Video Mark Fields (businessman)
Early life, education, and family
Fields was born in the New York City borough of Brooklyn to Gerald S. Fields, a purchasing manager, and Elinor Fields. Fields is of Romanian Jewish and Russian Jewish descent, and the Fields family's original name was Finkelman. Fields grew up in Paramus, New Jersey, where he attended Paramus High School, graduating in 1979. Fields holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Rutgers University and a master of business administration from Harvard Business School. He worked for IBM prior to earning his MBA. He is married to Jane Fields and has three children.
Maps Mark Fields (businessman)
Career in business
Fields was recruited by Ford in 1989 and moved up the ranks. He ran Ford's Argentina operations at the age of 36. He then went to Japan to run marketing and sales for Mazda Motor Corporation (then owned by Ford) and was named president and CEO of Mazda Motor Corporation in 2000, at age 38. In 2002, Fields became chairman of the Premier Automotive Group, Ford's luxury unit, which at the time included Lincoln, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo Cars. He then was named executive vice president, Ford of Europe and Premier Automotive Group, where he led all activities for Ford's premium vehicle business group and for Ford brand vehicles manufactured and sold in European countries. In 2005, he returned to the United States to head the Americas division of the company. In this role, he developed the "Way Forward" plan, which was designed to make Ford's North American operations leaner and more centrally driven in areas such as product development, purchasing and engineering.
In December 2012, Ford appointed Fields its chief operating officer. He was named president and CEO of Ford effective July 1, 2014, succeeding Alan Mulally.
In the midst of the 2016 U.S. Presidential election campaign, Fields announced a plan to move production of the Ford Focus from Michigan to San Luis PotosÃ, Mexico. Donald Trump used this proposed move as an example of how the North American Free Trade Agreement was bad for American workers. Before Trump took office, Fields announced the cancellation of a $1.6 billion investment for a new factory in Mexico. This incident is reported to have undermined Ford's board of directors' confidence in Fields. Despite strong SUV and pickup truck sales, investors lacked confidence in Ford's future direction. Although U.S. stock market indexes rose sharply during Fields' tenure as CEO from July 2014 to May 2017, Ford's stock price fell more than 35 percent in that period.
On May 22, 2017, Fields was replaced by James Hackett. Ford Chairman Bill Ford Jr. said he wanted Hackett to speed up decision-making and cut costs. "The clock speed at which our competitors are working ...requires us to make decisions at a faster pace," said the Ford chairman.
Fields became a senior adviser at private equity firm TPG Capital in October 2017.
References
External links
- Mark Fields - Ford media
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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