Park Cities Legends & Legacies — Gerald J. Ford
“In my experience, effort will trump intellect. I know no one who is successful that hasn’t made a huge effort.” — Gerald J. Ford.
Legends & Legacies is a series of articles focusing on some of the most prominent and accomplished families of Highland and University Park.
In this installment, we’ll be taking a look at the life and career of Gerald J. Ford (not related to either the US President or the auto clan).
- Previous profiles: Jerry Jones, Edwin L. Cox, Andrew Beal, The Crow Family, John Tolleson, Thomas O. Hicks & Robert Haas
Table of Contents
- Family Life
- Entrepreneurial Secrets
- Career Highlights
- Current Business Interests
- The SMU Connection
Family Life
Ford, the son of an auto body shop owner, was raised in Pampa TX.
Ford says that working in the body shop as a teenager, spurred him to seek a better career, and in high school, he carried around Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, a book about the pursuit of individual achievement. “Her books talked about people being successful, and I identified with that”, said Ford.
Education
Ford earned an undergraduate economics degree at SMU and got his law degree from the school in 1969, because, he says, he saw that the prosperous people wearing ties in his small town were all lawyers.
Children
Ford is married to Kelli O. Ford, and has four grown children from his first marriage, and two more with Kelli.
- Ford and his wife, Kelli O. Ford, with their daughters, Kelli and Electra, at the groundbreaking of the Gerald J. Ford Hall for Research and Innovation
Kelli O. Ford
Kelli is a renown interior designer, who, with her sister Kirsten Fitzgibbons, co-owns the design firm Kirsten Kelli LLC, and the Dallas retail home store, Madison.
The sisters’ modern, classic style has been featured in a number of home décor publications including Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, Southern Home, Veranda, The New York Times, Marie Claire Maison Italia, and Interior Design Russia.
Residence
The Ford family resides in University Park, in an exclusive area known as the Volk Estates.
The estate concept for University Park was introduced in the 1920s by Leonard W. Volk, a Dallas retailer. A 1926 promotional brochure for the area came with the headline: “Own Your Own Estate”
Other Properties
In addition to his University Park home, Ford has invested into a number of other properties, including a beachfront getaway in Southampton, N.Y.; an Upper East Side townhouse in Manhattan; a Kentucky horse farm; and a ranch in New Mexico.
“I love being out here,” said Ford of his lush, 1,000-acre Kentucky thoroughbred farm, home to his prized Pleasantly Perfect, winner of the $6 million Dubai World Cup in 2004.
Another of Ford’s favorite escapes is his 147,000-acre ranch, where he raises a herd of 3,500 cattle and also sells hunting trips, such as multi-day excursions hunting elk and deer.
Entrepreneurial Secrets
Over the past four decades, while private equity rock stars such as Henry Kravis and Stephen Schwarzman made megadeals for brand names, Ford usually avoided splashy buyouts.
Instead, he has operated quietly, mostly in dusty backwaters such as Levelland, Texas, and Carrizozo, N.M.
In 2010, Ford sat down with Forbes magazine to share some of his ‘entrepreneurial secrets’. Here’s the Q&A:
- Who is your hero? My mother and father
- What personality trait was the key to your success? Persistence
- Name one experience every entrepreneur-to-be must have. Failure
- What financial advice do you have for someone who is newly rich? Things change
- What are the unforeseen downsides to success? Responsibility for others
- You have $100,000 — where do you put it? In a bank account
- How do you choose a money manager or investment advisor? Don’t use one
- What are the biggest obstacles to job creation in America? Politics
- What books should every entrepreneur read? Great Gatsby, The Financier by Theodore Dreiser, Bonfire of the Vanities, Too Big to Fail, The Big Short
In 2014, Ford delivered a commencement address, where he encouraged gathered students to “dream big.” Ford went on to offer six tenets that he said would help graduates “in any aspect of life”:
- Make a plan — “If you don’t know where you’re going, it’s hard to get there.”
- Be committed — “I don’t know of anyone who’s been successful in life who didn’t make a huge effort . . . effort will trump intellect.”
- Accept responsibility, particularly when things go wrong — “The first thing I would encourage you to do is look in the mirror and see what personal culpability you had in influencing this outcome . . . You need to learn from your mistakes so you don’t repeat them.”
- Associate with good people — “What I’m going to suggest to you, going forward out in the real world, is that you become deliberate and proactive in associating with good people . . . The most important part is for you to be a good person and that will enhance your ability to associate with good people.”
- Accept bad news gladly — “If you don’t, you won’t get it. If you kill the messenger, the messenger won’t come. And if you don’t know the bad things, you can’t have any influence or mitigate or avoid the problem.”
- Under promise and over deliver — “There’s just no downside to it. .. If you make your promise and you’ve saved a little back, you’ve established instant credibility.”
PBS Interview
Readers interested in learning more about Ford’s business strategies, can watch his 2012 PBS interview, viewable here.
Career Highlights
The buyout business has been hugely profitable for Ford, and today, he is considered one of the nation’s most accomplished financial services executives.
Over the past 40 years, he has acquired, managed and sold banking businesses and other financial services companies, including First United Bank Group; First Gibraltar Bank, FSB; Golden State Bancorp; and Pacific Capital Bancorp.
“When a bank gets in trouble, it’s just swimming against the current,” said Carl Webb, Ford’s second in command. “We call them the walking wounded and that’s where we see the opportunities.”
Since 1975, Ford, who is a hands-on dealmaker, has snapped 60 plus firms, deals that he manages with a help of a small team, headquartered in Dallas.
How It All Started
After working as a general counsel for a group of closely held corporations, Ford decided he wanted to build his own company.
At 31, with two partners and some borrowed money, he paid $1.2 million for 64 percent of First National Bank of Post in 1975. “I wanted to run something, a business,” Ford said. “After we got it, one was good, two were better.”
Seven years later, Ford bought First National Bank in Lubbock and hired Webb to be president. The two men then went on a four-decade shopping spree.
Despite the big returns, both Ford and Webb take a conservative approach to buying troubled banks, scrutinizing customer loyalty and defaults to limit their risk. “Banks get in trouble for one reason: They make bad loans,” Webb said.
S&L Deals
By the mid-1980s, Ford and Webb had built up equity of $225 million on 23 small-town banks with a combined $4 billion in assets. They rolled them into First United Bank Group Inc. and sold it in 1994 to Norwest Corp. for stock valued at $495 million.
The S&L crisis in the late 1980s, brought on by deregulation of the industry, provided Ford the opportunity to create one of his biggest and most controversial deals:
- In 1988, with Ron Perelman’s financing, they paid $315 million for five troubled S&Ls with combined assets of $11.4 billion. In exchange for taking on the risk of the renamed First Gibraltar Bank, the government provided them with up to $9.5 billion in guarantees to cover bad loans and up to $1.8 billion in tax benefits.
- Ford and Perelman took full advantage of the U.S. government rescue program, as it offered subsidies and tax breaks to entice investors to take over failing thrifts.
- Republican and Democratic congressmen protested that regulators were giving Ford and Perelman too generous a deal. Perelman said he and Ford were both shaken up by the criticism.
- “Here we thought we were doing exactly what the government wanted investors to do, and we raised our hand as the high bidder,” Perelman said. “All of a sudden, we found ourselves in a real strong negative backlash.”
1990s
Ford and Perelman struck again in the mid-1990s, this time scooping up S&Ls wounded by the bursting of California’s housing bubble.
They assumed management of the combined company, which became the nation’s then-second-largest S&L. They flipped it to Citigroup in 2002 for $5.8 billion, giving Ford more than 20 million Citi shares valued at about $1 billion by the time he sold the stock.
Perelman said he and Ford had the perfect relationship. “Everything was always transparent, always straight with Jerry,” Perelman said. “He will always take advantage of opportunities and turn them into real value.”
2000s
Ford stumbled a bit during the credit bubble in the mid-2000s, when a lack of reasonably priced deals scared him away from banks and into other industries, but returned to the banking sector after the subprime crisis pushed the economy into a recession in late 2007.
Now, approaching his ninth decade, Ford isn’t slowing down and is nowhere near finished buying and consolidating banks. But, he has made plans toward succession by installing his son Jeremy Ford as the head of Hilltop Holdings Inc., a financial services company Ford controls.
“Work is intellectual to him at this point,” Jeremy said during a visit to the Kentucky farm with his dad and extended family. “It’s so a part of who he is that I don’t think he’ll ever not want to do it.”
Current Business Interests
Ford currently serves as chair of Hilltop Holdings, a diversified financial services holding company with over $18 billion in assets. Hilltop’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “HTH.”
- Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Hilltop Holdings offers financial services through its three primary subsidiaries, PlainsCapital Bank, PrimeLending, and HilltopSecurities.
- PlainsCapital Bank is a commercial bank, PrimeLending is a mortgage provider focused on purchase mortgage originations and HilltopSecurities provides financial advisory, clearing, retail brokerage, and other investment banking services.
Along with Carl B. Webb, his second in command, Ford is also a co-managing partner in Ford Financial Fund, a private equity firm. The fund commands close to $2 billion in capital and is focused on investments in community banks.
In addition to above, Ford also served as the nonexecutive chair on the board of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, which trades on the NYSE under the ticker “FCX”.
Affiliations
- Diamond A-Ford Corporation, Chairman and CEO
- Ford Financial Fund II, L.P. co-managing partner
- Ford Financial Fund III, L.P. co-managing partner
- Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc., Chairman
- Mechanics Bank, Director
- Southern Methodist University, Trustee
- Southern Methodist University School of Law, Executive Board member
- Southwestern Medical Foundation, Trustee
- Children’s Medical Foundation, Trustee
The SMU Connection
Ford’s ties to SMU date back to his student days and have continued through today.
- 1966: Ford receives B.A. in economics from Dedman College
- 1969: Ford receives J.D. from what is now Dedman School of Law
- 1992: Ford joins SMU Board of Trustees
- 1995: Ford is honored with SMU’s Distinguished Alumni Award
- 1997: Ford is presented with the Mustang Award, recognizing his significant philanthropic contributions to the University
- 1997: Ford provides the lead gift for the Mustangs’ football stadium
- 2003: Ford establishes the Gerald J. Ford Research Fellows program at SMU
- 2013: Ford provides the lead gift for the establishment of Ford Hall
Gerald J. Ford Stadium
In the two decades since its grand opening, the Ford Stadium has revitalized the campus experience for SMU athletes, students and supporters.
- Yr opened: 2000
- Capacity: 32,000
The stadium stands on the site of the former Ownby Stadium, the school’s previous on-campus football stadium. Ownby was demolished starting in 1998 in order to clear land designated for the new stadium.
Ford stadium has seating capacity for 32,000 with possibility for future expansion to 45,000. The horseshoe configuration also includes nearly 600 club level seats and 240 seats in 24 spacious luxury suites housed in a three-level tower and press box.
The stadium’s playing surface is 25 feet below ground level, with half of the seats sunk below grade, ensuring a smooth transition into the surrounding neighborhood and the remainder of the SMU campus.
Since its grand opening in 2000, the stadium has undergone a number of upgrades, including:
- 2013: a new 233-seat Hall of Champions Club and new suites were added
- 2018: SMU installed end zone video screens and completed a $2 million renovation of the locker room and team meeting rooms
- NFL great Eric Dickerson played football for SMU between 1979 & 1982
Gerald J. Ford Research Fellows Program
Ford established the Gerald J. Ford SMU Research Fellows Program in 2003, which annually honors outstanding faculty members with funding to support their research and creative endeavors.
Fellowships are given to SMU faculty based on the significance of a faculty member’s scholarly contributions and future research plans. Candidates are nominated by department chairs, faculty, and the faculty senate.
To date, 77 professors have been named Ford Research Fellows.
Gerald J. Ford Hall for Research and Innovation
SMU dedicated the Gerald J. Ford Hall for Research and Innovation on December 4, 2020.
This new, 50,000-square-foot interdisciplinary research hub, was built to equip faculty, students and industry partners with tools and resources to collaborate, solve complex problems and power new enterprises in the digital world of today and tomorrow.
The hall is located on SMU’s main campus at the corner of McFarlin Boulevard and Airline Road and serves as the home to the AT&T Center for Virtualization, the Dedman College Interdisciplinary Institute, high-performance computing and data science, and the innovative Visualization Lab.
