Gerald J. Ford
Gerald J. Ford | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1944 Pampa, Texas, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Lawyer, entrepreneur |
| Known for | Chairman of Hilltop Holdings; former chairman and CEO of Golden State Bancorp; non-executive chairman of Freeport-McMoRan |
Gerald J. Ford (born 1944) is a prominent American lawyer and entrepreneur.
Early life
Ford grew up in Pampa, Texas and completed his undergraduate studies at Southern Methodist University in 1966, where he was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. He later obtained his Juris Doctor degree from the SMU School of Law in 1969.
Career
Ford previously held the positions of chairman and CEO at Golden State Bancorp, Inc., a San Francisco-based holding company that managed the second largest thrift institution nationwide and ranked as California’s fourth largest bank. In 2002, he sold Golden State Bancorp to Citigroup for $6 billion. Presently, Ford serves as chairman of the board at Hilltop Holdings, a diversified bank and insurance holding company. Additionally, he holds the role of non-executive chairman at Freeport-McMoRan (FCX), recognized as the largest publicly traded copper and gold mining company globally.
His investment portfolio includes stakes in First Acceptance Corporation, Pacific Capital Bancorp (with annual revenues of $13 billion), Rio Hondo Land & Cattle Company (generating $1.6 million in sales), Diamond Ford Dallas ($200 million in sales), Scientific Games Corp., SWS Group ($422 million in sales), and American Residential Cmnts LLC. Ford also maintains interests in the auto-finance firm AmeriCredit, Pacific Capital Bancorp, and owns approximately 120,000 acres of rangeland located in New Mexico.
Ford is well-known for acquiring banking institutions, restructuring their operations, and subsequently selling them for significant profits. His most notable accomplishments include Golden State Bancorp and Pacific Capital Bancorp.
During a 2010 interview with Forbes focused on entrepreneurship, Ford recommended several business-related books such as The Great Gatsby, The Financier, Too Big to Fail, and The Big Short.
Philanthropy
Since 1992, Ford has been a member of Southern Methodist University’s board of trustees, where he chairs the finance committee and participates actively in various executive committees. He co-leads the Dedman College Campaign Committee and sits on the executive board of the Dedman School of Law. His previous board service includes roles with Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Cox School of Business, John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies, and the Willis M. Tate Distinguished Lecture Series. Furthermore, he served as a regent for the Texas A&M University System.
Ford contributed $20 million toward the construction of SMU’s football stadium, which bears his name as the Gerald J. Ford Stadium, and donated an additional $10 million to Weill Cornell Medical College. More recently, he played a key role in facilitating SMU’s transition from the American Athletic Conference to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in 2024 by joining a group of boosters committed to funding ACC media revenue shortfalls over nine years.
Personal life
He is married to Kelli, an interior designer, and together they have six children. The family resides in Dallas and owns multiple properties including residences in Manhattan, New York City, The Hamptons, a ranch in New Mexico, and a thoroughbred horse farm in Kentucky. In 2012, they sold their home in Beverly Hills, California to Byron Allen. As of September 2022, Ford’s net worth is estimated at approximately US $2.3 billion.