William E. Ford

William E. Ford (born June 18, 1961) is an American businessman. He is the Chairman and CEO of General Atlantic, a global growth equity firm with $84 billion in assets under management as of November, 2021.[1] He lives in New York City.

William E. Ford
Ford in October 2017
Born (1961-06-18) June 18, 1961
Orange, New Jersey, U.S.
Alma materAmherst College (B.A.)
Stanford University (M.B.A.)
Occupation(s)Chairman and C.E.O. at General Atlantic

Career and education

Ford has been the chief executive officer of General Atlantic, a leading growth equity firm, since his appointment in 2007. He was made chairman of the firm in 2021. Under his direction, the firm’s assets under management have increased from roughly $12 billion in 2007 to $34 billion as of March 2020.[1] During his tenure as CEO, the firm has also continued its global expansion by opening new offices in Jakarta, Singapore, Beijing, Mexico City, and Shanghai.[2][3] Additionally, General Atlantic has expanded its sector coverage through the launch of the global Consumer sector team as well as the expansion of the Healthcare sector to include Life Sciences.[4][5]

In addition to his roles as Chairman and CEO, Ford is chairman of General Atlantic’s Management Committee and is a member of the firm’s Investment and Portfolio Committees.[6]

Ford joined General Atlantic in 1991, having previously worked at Morgan Stanley & Co. as an investment banker.[7] Ford has personally led a number of successful investments during his tenure as CEO of General Atlantic, including First Republic Bank (2010), IHS Markit (2010), NYMEX Holdings (2006), Priceline (1998), and E*Trade (1995).[8][9][10][11]

He serves on the board of General Atlantic portfolio companies ByteDance and Royalty Pharma, in addition to IHS Markit, a former portfolio company and global provider of independent financial data, tools, and infrastructure. He also serves on the board of BlackRock.[12] He has been a director of prior General Atlantic portfolio companies including Tory Burch, First Republic Bank, NYSE Euronext, E*Trade, Priceline, and NYMEX.[6]

Ford received his M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1987 and his B.A. in Economics from Amherst College in 1983.[6]

Philanthropy and public positions

Ford serves as Chair of Rockefeller University and serves on the board of trustees of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.[6] He also serves as Co-Chair of the Partnership for New York City and on the board of directors of the National Committee on United States-China Relations, Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA), Endeavor, the McKinsey Advisory Council, and the New York State Life Science Advisory Board.[6][13][14][15][16][17] Furthermore, he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the steering committee for The CEO Action for Diversity.[18][19]

Ford also serves on the advisory board of Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management.[20][21][22] He served as a trustee of Amherst College from 2001-2013 and is a member of the Investment Committee for the College's endowment.[20][6]

In July 2022, Ford helped found a group of U.S. business and policy leaders who share the goal of constructively engaging with China in order to improve U.S.-China relations.[23]

Awards and recognition
  • Ford was ranked #5 on Forbes Midas List in 2009
  • Ford was ranked #6 on Forbes Midas List in 2008

Ford has been interviewed by several publications such as Bloomberg, the Financial Times, Fortune Magazine, American Banker, The Economic Times, British American Business, Forbes, Expansion, Private Equity International, the Silicon Valley Business Journal, and LEADERS Magazine. Ford has also appeared on CNBC with David Faber.[24][25]

Notes
  1. "About General Atlantic". General Atlantic, LLC. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  2. "General Atlantic Opens Mexico City Office and Expands Local Presence in Latin America". PRNewswire. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  3. "General Atlantic Offices". General Atlantic, LLC.
  4. "General Atlantic Appoints Andrew Crawford as Managing Director and Head of its Global Retail and Consumer Sector". PRNewswire. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  5. "General Atlantic Taps Dipp, Slavitt For Key Healthcare Sector Roles". FINalternatives. October 10, 2017. Archived from the original on October 11, 2017.
  6. "William E. Ford - Chief Executive Officer". General Atlantic website.
  7. "Bloomberg - William Ford". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015.
  8. "Bank of America Sells First Republic Bank". The New York Times. 21 October 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  9. "General Atlantic To Gey NYMEX Dividend". New York Post. 7 October 2005. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  10. "Short Take: General Atlantic invests in Priceline.com". CNET. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  11. Westland, J. Chistopher; Clark, Theodore H. K. (1999). Global Electronic Commerce: Theory and Case Studies. MIT Press. p. 368. ISBN 0262232057.
  12. "BlackRock Elects New Independent Directors". BlackRock Investor Relations. Archived from the original on March 21, 2018.
  13. "Board of Directors". pfnyc.org. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  14. "Board of Directors". National Committee on United States-China Relations. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  15. "EMPEA Board Profile for William E. Ford". The Emerging Markets Private Equity Association.
  16. "Endeavor Global Board Profile for William E. Ford". Endeavor Global, Inc.
  17. "Governor Cuomo Announces Life Science Advisory Board". Governor of New York State Official Website. Archived from the original on May 2, 2018.
  18. "Membership Roster". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  19. "List of affiliated CEOs". CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion.
  20. "Forbes - William Ford". Forbes. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
  21. "Stanford GSB profile". Stanford. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  22. "Tsinghua - Advisory Board". Tsinghua University. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  23. "We Want to Rebuild U.S. Relations With China - WSJ". 2022-07-07. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
  24. "Ford: I would love to see a renaissance in IPO market". CNBC. May 3, 2017.
  25. McGee, Chantel (May 3, 2017). "Snap will be a serious competitor to Facebook and Google, says investor". CNBC.
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