Ford Motor Co Top-Tier Executives Average Pay Raise Was a Clean, Very Robust 17.0% Per Year During the Past 10 Years (2009-2018). It Appears That Ford and Its Board of Directors Were Into Grade Inflation Given How Ford Has Actually Underperformed in the Past Decade. Grade Inflation of the Performance of Top Level Executives Results in Annual Pay Raise Inequality Expansion.

Detroit, Michigan is the site of the second Democratic 2020 Presidential candidate televised debate to be held on July 30-31, 2019.  The Under 75 Progressive Wing will be led by the energetic Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Corey Booker and Julian Castro.  The Under 75 More Moderate Wing will be led by Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O'Rourke and Latecomers Michael Bennet and Steven Bullock.

The key issue to Detroit and to Michigan citizens should be the huge and continuing Income Inequality Expansion which is at the core of many critical problems the US faces.

Thus I will be doing research and making posts on the average pay raise per year that the Top-Tier Executives of many large Michigan Companies were rewarded with in the past ten years.

The second Michigan Company I am addressing is the Ford Motor Company.

From annual compensation information contained in Company Proxy Statement filings with the SEC, the chart at the very bottom below shows Ford Motor Co's Top-Tier Executives Annual Total Compensation for each of two consecutive full years of employment for the most recent ten years. 

Ford's Top-Tier Executive Average Pay Raise of a clean 17.0% per year for the last decade is below GM's somewhat messy 29.5% per year.

My objective is to get a better handle on just why the US and especially Michigan has such massive continuing Income Inequality Expansion ..... it appears to be predominantly about the relative long-term annual pay raise percentages, coupled with the stock price appreciation subsequent to the time the Top-Tier Executives were rewarded in their pay with stock equity compensation.

To fix Income Inequality driven mainly by Company and its Board of Director choices on Percentage Annual Pay Raises, the US Government should step in and pass wisely-designed, simple but effective Fair Pay Raise Income Inequality Narrowing Company tax incentives for rewarding non-executive employees with fair pay increases ..... the carrot ..... and Company tax disincentives for rewarding executive employees with clearly excessively high pay increases ..... the stick.  I am certain ..... it is simple math ..... that this tax proposal would be very effective in substantially reducing the huge income inequality expansion that has occurred for decades in annual percentage pay raises between company executives and the rest of the company employees. 

And the continuing annual net tax revenues raised by the US Government here should be set up in a separate fund to be used only for wise additional income inequality narrowing initiatives.  This fund should be run by an outside group made up entirely of minorities harmed the most by Income Inequality Expansion of the past decades  .....all women, all blacks, all Latinos, all other non-white people, all past and present union members, all LGBTQ, all non-employee contract workers and all middle and lower income people of all ages.

Also, the US Government should require all US Corporate Boards to include at least one worker representative and to exclude any Company Executive.

	FYE	FYE		FYE	FYE		FYE	FYE		FYE	FYE		FYE	FYE
	Dec	Dec		Dec	Dec		Dec	Dec		Dec	Dec		Dec	Dec
Ford Motor Co	2018	2017		2017	2016		2016	2015		2015	2014		2014	2013
Top-Tier	Total	Total		Total	Total		Total	Total		Total	Total		Total	Total
Executive	Comp	Comp		Comp	Comp		Comp	Comp		Comp	Comp		Comp	Comp
	$ 000s	$ 000s		$ 000s	$ 000s		$ 000s	$ 000s		$ 000s	$ 000s		$ 000s	$ 000s
James Hackett CEO	17,753	16,732		N/A	N/A
Robert Shanks CFO	8,420	6,744		6,744	6,293		6,293	5,558		5,558	6,537		6,537	4,090
William Clay Ford Executive Chairman	13,840	15,626		15,626	13,863		13,863	12,861		12,861	15,583		15,583	11,956
James Farley President Global Markets	5,861	13,474		13,474	6,609		6,609	5,805		5,805	4,691		4,691	4,261
Joseph Hinrichs Global Operations	5,815	12,125		12,125	6,724		6,724	6,418		6,418	6,309		6,309	4,410
Mark Fields Retired CEO				N/A	N/A		22,102	18,577		18,577	18,934		18,934	10,171
Alan Mulally Former CEO													N/A	N/A
Totals	51,689	64,701		47,969	33,489		55,591	49,219		49,219	52,054		52,054	34,888
Annual % Change vs Prior Year	-20.1%			43.2%			12.9%			-5.4%			49.2%
5 Year Average Per Year % Change		16.0%
	FYE	FYE		FYE	FYE		FYE	FYE		FYE	FYE		FYE	FYE
	Dec	Dec		Dec	Dec		Dec	Dec		Dec	Dec		Dec	Dec
Ford Motor Co	2013	2012		2012	2011		2011	2010		2010	2009		2009	2008
Top-Tier	Total	Total		Total	Total		Total	Total		Total	Total		Total	Total
Executive	Comp	Comp		Comp	Comp		Comp	Comp		Comp	Comp		Comp	Comp
	$ 000s	$ 000s		$ 000s	$ 000s		$ 000s	$ 000s		$ 000s	$ 000s		$ 000s	$ 000s
Robert Shanks CFO	4,090	5,182		N/A	N/A
William Clay Ford Executive Chairman	11,956	14,836		14,836	14,458		14,458	26,461		26,461	16,834		16,834	0
James Farley President Global Markets	4,261	4,597		N/A	N/A
Joseph Hinrichs Global Operations	4,410	4,097		4,097	5,302		N/A	N/A
Mark Fields CEO	10,171	8,854		8,854	8,840		8,840	8,819		8,819	3,981		3,981	4,647
Alan Mulally Former CEO	23,205	20,956		20,956	29,498		29,498	26,521		26,521	17,917		17,917	16,975
L W K Booth Retired CFO				N/A	N/A		7,732	8,197		8,197	3,826		3,826	5,454
John Fleming Global Mfg & Labor Affairs										5,916	3,852		N/A	N/A
Totals	58,093	58,522		48,743	58,098		60,528	69,998		75,914	46,410		42,558	27,076
Annual % Change vs Prior Year	-0.7%			-16.1%			-13.5%			63.6%			57.2%
5 Year Average Per Year % Change		18.1%
10 Year Average Per Year % Change		17.0%