You may have already heard this tale in the past… but we’ll tell it anyway — since it makes for such a great anecdote. So, here goes.
Once upon a time, Ford Executive Vice President and Preside of The Americas Mark Fields tried to attack The Blue Oval’s former CFO. It all took place, according to a Bloomberg report, in July of 2006. As gas prices skyrocketed, and truck/SUV sales — on which Ford relied quite heavily to turn a profit back then — plummeted nearly as fast as sales of Ford’s Mercury brand upon its demise, Ford executives called a meeting at the Henry Ford Museum.
Basically, the men in ties had to decide what Ford’s next move was. And at the meeting, Ford chief financial officer Don Leclair reportedly insisted that Fields do away with the subpar “Bold Moves” ad campaign, apparently because there was “no other alternative”.
Supposedly, the single-sourced conversation ahead of the mild scuffle went something like this:
Fields: When you run the freaking business, you can do it. But you don’t run it. You’re the CFO. So, I’ll take your counsel, but that’s it.
Leclair: You’re going to do this!
Fields: (leaping out of his chair) I’m tired of this bullblasphemyshit!
Fields was “halfway across the table” when The Blue Oval’s then-CEO Bill Ford grabbed and restrained him.
“Cut it out,” Ford reportedly said, in what we can only imagine to be his outside/playground voice.
Throwing more fuel on this drama is that Fields is considered to be a likely candidate for the CEO at Ford once current chief executive Alan Mulally retires.
Image credit: Associated Press.
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