Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) is an American industrialist and business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production.
By creating the first automobile that middle-class Americans can afford, he converts the automobile from an expensive curiosity into an accessible conveyance that will profoundly impact the landscape of the twentieth century.
His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionizes transportation and American industry.
As the owner of the Ford Motor Company, he becomes one of the richest and best-known people in the world
He will be credited with "Fordism": mass production of inexpensive goods coupled with high wages for workers.
Ford has a global vision, with consumerism as the key to peace.
His intense commitment to systematically lowering costs results in many technical and business innovations, including a franchise system that puts dealerships throughout most of North America and in major cities on six continents.
Ford leaves most of his vast wealth to the Ford Foundation and arranges for his family to control the company permanently.
Ford is also widely known for his pacifism during the first years of the First World War, and for promoting antisemitic content, including The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, through his newspaper The Dearborn Independent and the book The International Jew, having an alleged influence on the development of Nazism.