William E. Ford

William E. Ford
Ford in October 2017
Born	(1961-06-18) June 18, 1961 (age 64) Orange, New Jersey, U.S.
Alma mater	Amherst College (B.A.) Stanford University (M.B.A.)
Occupations	Chairman and CEO of General Atlantic
Spouse	Molly Birkenes ​ (m. 2022)​

William E. Ford (born June 18, 1961) is an American businessman. He is the chairman and CEO of General Atlantic, a global investing firm with $118 billion in assets under management as of September, 2025. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Career and education

Ford has been the chief executive officer of General Atlantic since his appointment in 2007. ^{[1] [4]} Ford joined General Atlantic in 1991, having previously worked at Morgan Stanley & Co. as an investment banker. ^{[1] [4]}

He is on the board of General Atlantic portfolio company ByteDance. ^[5] He also is on the board of BlackRock. ^[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. ^{[7] [8]}

Philanthropy and public positions

Ford is Chair of Rockefeller University and is on the board of trustees of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. ^{[9] [10]} He is on the board of directors of the National Committee on United States-China Relations and the Simons Foundation. ^{[11] [12]} He was previously on the board of directors of the Lincoln Center. ^[13] Furthermore, he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the steering committee for The CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion, and is on the advisory board of Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management. ^{[14] [15] [16]}

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. ^[17]

In 2025, Ford donated $1.25 million to MAGA Inc., a super PAC that supports Donald Trump. ^[18]

Awards and recognition

Ford was ranked #5 on the Forbes Midas List in 2009 and #6 in 2008. ^{[19] [20]}

Notes

1. "Profile and Biography of Bill Ford". Bloomberg.
2. Tan, Gillian (July 7, 2022). "General Atlantic Is Said to Be Exploring an Initial Public Offering". Bloomberg.
3. "General Atlantic Form ADV" (PDF). U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. October 11, 2024. p. 39.
4. "William E. Ford - Chief Executive Officer". General Atlantic website.
5. "ByteDance Homepage". ByteDance. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
6. "BlackRock Board of Directors". BlackRock Investor Relations. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
7. "William E. Ford III". Stanford Graduate School of Business Alumni.
8. Huhmann, Amanda. "New Residence Hall to Be Named for '83 Alumnus". Amherst College.
9. "Board of Trustees and Corporate Officers". The Rockefeller University. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
10. "Board of Trustees". Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
11. "Board of Directors". NCUSCR. The National Committee on United States-China Relations. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
12. Sumner, Thomas (June 27, 2024). "Bill Ford and Andrew Golden Join Simons Foundation Board of Trustees". Simons Foundation.
13. "Board of Directors". Lincoln Center for Performing Arts. Archived from the original on June 3, 2019.
14. "Membership Roster". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
15. "CEOs". CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
16. "Tsinghua SEM Advisory Board Members" (PDF). School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
17. "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.
18. Kamisar, Ben; Bowman, Bridget (2025-07-31). "Trump's super PAC raises a massive $177 million, bolstering his political influence". NBC News . Archived from the original on 2025-08-03. Retrieved 2025-08-03.
19. "Midas List". Forbes. February 6, 2009.
20. "The Midas List". Forbes. January 24, 2008.