Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist and business magnate best known as the founder of the Ford Motor Company. He helped transform the automobile from a luxury item into a product affordable to many middle-class Americans, and he is closely associated with the system of mass production known as Fordism. In 1911, he received a patent for the transmission mechanism used in the Ford Model T and other automobiles.
Born in a farmhouse in Greenfield Township, Michigan, Ford left home at 16 to seek work in Detroit. After first encountering automobiles, he began repairing and then building engines in the late 1880s, and in the 1890s he worked with a division of Edison Electric. Following earlier business failures, he founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903 and achieved major success with automobile production. The introduction of the Model T in 1908 is widely credited with revolutionizing transportation and American industry.
As the company’s sole owner, Ford became one of the wealthiest people in the world. He was also associated with innovations in labor and distribution, including support for the five-day workweek and a franchise system that expanded Ford dealerships across North America and major cities on several continents. Ford argued that consumerism could contribute to world peace.
During the early years of World War I, Ford was known for his pacifism, though his company later became a major supplier of weapons. He supported the League of Nations but also promoted antisemitism in the 1920s through The Dearborn Independent and The International Jew. He opposed U.S. entry into World War II and briefly served on the board of the America First Committee. After the death of his son Edsel Ford in 1943, Ford returned to control of the company before handing it to his grandson Henry Ford II in 1945. Upon his death in 1947, most of his wealth went to the Ford Foundation, while control of the company remained with his family.