Jim Farley (businessman)

• 1. Introduction

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  James Duncan Farley Jr. now leads the company where his grandfather worked. In 1918, that grandfather held a job at Henry Ford's River Rouge Plant. More than a century later, a descendant of that same family sits atop Ford's leadership. Born on the 10th of June, 1962, Farley reached that position after a winding path. That path ran through a rival carmaker, a Catholic prep school, and family ties stretching from the entertainment world to the hockey rink. How did a banker's grandson end up running Ford, and what does he now predict for the workers under him?

• 2. Before Detroit

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  Buenos Aires, Argentina is where James Farley spent his earliest years. He was born there to a father who worked as a banker. The family later moved to Greenwich, Connecticut, trading South America for the American Northeast. Before university, Farley attended Portsmouth Abbey School, a Catholic college preparatory school in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. He graduated from Georgetown University, then went back to school years later at the UCLA Anderson School of Management in Los Angeles.

  Chris Farley, Kevin Farley, and John Farley, all entertainers, share Farley's surname and his family tree. A fourth cousin, Tripp Tracy, took a different route. He is a former NHL and AHL player who now works as a Carolina Hurricanes TV analyst.

• 3. Climbing to the Top

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  Lexus is where Farley worked before joining Ford, serving as group vice president and general manager. In that role he handled all sales, marketing, and customer satisfaction for Toyota's luxury brand. He joined Ford in November 2007, leaving Toyota's luxury division behind. Between 2015 and 2017 he served as CEO and chairman of Ford Europe. From June 2017 to May 2019 he held the title of executive vice president and president of global markets.

  In May 2019, Ford named him president of New Business, Technology and Strategy. In February 2020, he became the company's chief operating officer. On the 4th of August, 2020, Ford announced that Farley would succeed Jim Hackett as chief executive, effective the 1st of October, 2020. Hackett stepped aside to become a special advisor to the company. Running Ford would not be the only board seat Farley took on in the years that followed.

• 4. New Seats at the Table

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  Harley-Davidson added Farley to its board of directors in July 2021, part of an effort to revitalize the motorcycle maker and prepare it for electrification. He remained on that board until February 2026. That same month, McDonald's elected Farley to its own board of directors, effective the 4th of February, 2026. A carmaker, a motorcycle company, and a fast food chain all had a claim on his attention within the same stretch of years. Those boardrooms, though, were not where Farley made his boldest public prediction.

• 5. A Warning About Machines

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  "Artificial intelligence is going to replace literally half of all white-collar workers in the U.S.," Farley said in July 2025. That prediction came from a man who had spent decades in the auto industry, first at Toyota's luxury brand and then at Ford. Whether that same forecast reaches the desks inside Ford's own headquarters remains a question Farley has not answered in public.