While other auto makers wanted to design luxury cars, Henry Ford designed a car that anyone could afford. Here he is standing by that very car. From the collections of The Henry Ford and Ford Motor Company.
Henry Ford had already amassed a fortune by his death in 1947, but the Henry Ford net worth has grown considerably since.
In the United Kingdom, there is one vehicle for every two people. There are also more than one billion cars currently in use around the world. We have American engineer Henry Ford to thank.
Henry Ford didn’t invent the car or the production line, as many mistakenly believe. However, he played a huge role in the innovation of both.
How did Henry Ford change the industry?
Ford was born to a family of farmers and looked set to follow in their footsteps. Although, the teenager received a pocket watch from his father on his 15th birthday and proceeded to take it apart and reassemble it.It was clear that Ford was destined for bigger things.
Ford left home at the age of 16 to work as an apprentice at a shipbuilding company, before joining the Edison Illuminating Company, where he worked under famed inventor Thomas Edison. He learnt many skills along the way that eventually helped him to design and develop his first engine-powered vehicle.
The emerging industrialist started the Ford Motor Company and released his first car, the Ford Model T, by 1908. Ford’s car wasn’t the first. Although, he had refined the production line in a way that allowed him to produce cars faster and cheaper. As a result, the Model T was the first affordable car for the average person.
The company continued to improveand Ford produced half of all cars in the United States within a decade. Theiremployees were among the first to receive standard 40-hour weeks, two day weekends and $5 wages, whichhelped to increase efficiency, driving the costof a Ford car from its launch price of $825 to $360 by 1918.
15 million Model T vehicles were sold in its 20 years of production. Unsurprisingly, Ford became one of the richest people in history, but just how much was the manufacturer worth?
Henry Ford net worth: then and now
Henry Ford passed away in 1947, just two years after retiring from the car manufacturing industry. Upon his death, the Henry Ford net worth stood at what would equate to approximately $199 billion nowadays.
Ford left the company to his family and 40% of Ford Motor Company still remains in the control of his great grandchildren. However, the wealth left behind has since diminished somewhat, with Ford’s market cap now standing at $43.5 billion.
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