After a five year pay freeze, which was initiated just before the economic downturn, Bill Ford Jr. will finally begin receiving a salary again. He is due to receive $4 million in cash and up to $12 million in stock options, a sum that’s been backdated to January 1, 2008.
Ford voluntary ditched his salary until “sustainable profitability” at the automaker was achieved. Luckily for Bill Ford, the company made $2.7 billion in 2009, its first annual profit in four years. Now that the company is on stable ground financially, Ford’s sacrifice can now pay off.
“It was a more prolonged downturn than anyone thought it would be when Bill made the pledge,” said Ford spokesman Mark Truby.
Some of the money Ford will earn will go toward repaying loans he took to buy Ford stock when things weren’t looking so idyllic. Another portion of his earnings will be used to set up a college scholarship for the children of Ford workers.
“Even during the difficult times for our company and the industry, I never doubted that our efforts at Ford would be successful. I continued to invest in our company’s future by purchasing Ford stock — at times, taking out personal loans to do so,” Bill Ford said in a note to employees obtained by The Detroit News.
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