What is Harold Ford Jr.'s Net Worth?
Harold Ford Jr. is an American financial managing director, television political pundit, and former United States congressman who has a net worth of $3 million. Between 2011 and 2017, he served as a managing director at Morgan Stanley, and in late 2020 he joined PNC Financial Services. Before that, from 1997 to 2007, Ford served in the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat representing Tennessee's 9th congressional district.
Early Life and Education
Harold Ford Jr. was born on May 11, 1970 in Memphis, Tennessee as the eldest son of Dorothy and politician Harold Sr., who went on to become a United States congressman. He has two brothers named Jake and Isaac and two half-siblings from his father's second marriage named Andrew and Ava. Ford lived his early life within the family business N.J. Ford and Sons Funeral Home. He attended the Montessori school Double Tree Elementary School before going to the college preparatory school St. Albans School in Washington, DC. For his higher education, Ford went to the University of Pennsylvania, earning his BA in American history in 1992. After working in the government for a while, he obtained his JD from the University of Michigan Law School in 1996. However, Ford never passed the Tennessee bar exam.
US House of Representatives
In 1996, Ford's father chose not to seek a 12th term in the United States House of Representatives. Because of this, Ford Jr. entered the race for his father's seat, quickly becoming the frontrunner to represent Tennessee's 9th congressional district. He went on to handily win the Democratic primary, and then the general election. Ford was reelected four times, serving in the House until 2007. During his congressional tenure, he sat on the House Budget Committee and the House Committee on Financial Services, and was a member of the Transformation Advisory Group, the New Democrat Coalition, and the Congressional Black Caucus. Ford also unsuccessfully ran for House Democratic Leader. Among his political positions, he opposed George W. Bush's energy proposals and supported such progressive causes as universal health care and adoption rights for same-sex couples.
US Senate Campaign
In 2005, Ford announced his intention to run for the United States Senate as a Democrat from Tennessee. The next year, he easily won the Democratic primary. In the general election, Ford lost to Republican Bob Corker in the closest Senate race in the history of Tennessee.
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Financial Services Career
Following his congressional tenure and his unsuccessful Senate bid, Ford joined the financial services sector as a vice chairman and senior policy adviser at Merrill Lynch. Later, between 2011 and 2017, he worked as a managing director at Morgan Stanley. In late 2020, Ford became Vice Chairman of Corporate and Institutional Banking at PNC Financial Services.
Television Punditry
Ford began doing television punditry in 2007, first as a political contributor to the Fox News Channel. The next year, he became a news analyst for MSNBC, serving as a panelist on the shows "Hardball" and "Morning Joe." Ford has also appeared on CNN and CNBC. In 2022, he became a co-host of the Fox News Channel program "The Five."
Teaching
In 2007, Ford was made a visiting professor of public policy at Vanderbilt University and a visiting professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He later became a visiting professor at NYU's Wagner Graduate School of Public Service in 2010. In 2015, Ford was a visiting professor at the Ford School of Public Policy at his alma mater the University of Michigan.
Book
In 2010, Ford published his book "More Davids Than Goliaths: A Political Education," in which he reflects on his political career and the hope he has for leadership in US government.
Personal Life
With his wife Emily Threlkeld, whom he married in 2008, Ford has a daughter named Georgia and a son named Harold III.
