From a report on new Ford chief executive Alan Mulally in The New York Times:
Company insiders say [Chairman William] Ford views the relationship as owner and manager, akin to a sports team such as his family’s Detroit Lions, where neither can be successful without the other.
The Lions are one of the least successful franchises in NFL history. They last played in an NFL championship game in 1957. Since then they have been in the post-season only nine times (in 48 seasons) and won just one post-season game out of ten.
William Clay Ford Sr. became president of the Lions in 1961 and purchased the team outright in 1963.
William Clay Ford Jr. is the chairman of the Ford Motor Company.