Are Joel Greenblatt and Jim Farley connected? Not as partners, but there is one verified link most articles miss. Greenblatt is the value investor behind the Magic Formula and Gotham Asset Management. Farley is the CEO of Ford.
Gotham’s June 2026 filing shows it cut its Ford stake to 1,434,698 shares. This guide gives you both profiles, Farley’s $27.5 million pay, Ford’s EV reset and a value investor’s lens on Ford, all verified on October 23, 2026.
Quick Facts
- Business partners? No. We found no joint company, fund, board seat or event.
- The only link: Gotham Asset Management has held Ford shares, and it sold about half of them in Q2 2026.
- Farley’s pay: $27.5 million in 2025, up 11% from 2024.
- Greenblatt’s best-known idea: The Magic Formula ranks stocks by earnings yield and return on capital.
Who Are Joel Greenblatt and Jim Farley?
| Detail | Joel Greenblatt | Jim Farley |
| Profession | Value investor and fund manager | Automotive executive |
| Current role | Managing principal and co chief investment officer of Gotham Asset Management | President and CEO of Ford since October 1, 2020 |
| Born | 1957 | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Education | Wharton, bachelor’s degree 1979 and MBA 1980 | Georgetown University (economics) and UCLA Anderson |
| Career path | Founded Gotham Capital in 1985; Gotham Asset Management is its successor | Toyota and Lexus executive, then joined Ford in 2007 and led Lincoln, Ford of Europe and new businesses |
| Scale of what they run | $32.6 billion managed as of March 2026 | $187.3 billion in Ford revenue for 2025 |
| Known for | Magic Formula investing and The Little Book That Beats the Market | The Ford+ plan and the $19.5 billion EV reset |
| Boards | Director at Pzena Investment Management | McDonald’s board since February 2026 |
| Teaching and community | Taught value investing at Columbia Business School for over 20 years; founded the Value Investors Club | Public speaker on skilled trades and manufacturing |
| Family trivia | Grew up learning business from his father | Cousin of the late comedian Chris Farley |
| Latest 2026 news | Gotham cut its Ford holding to 1,434,698 shares by June 30 | Spoke at the 2026 Automotive News Congress on September 29 |
Are Joel Greenblatt and Jim Farley Connected?
No direct connection exists. Searches of SEC filings, Ford’s investor materials and major news coverage found no shared company, fund, board seat or event. If you see a page claiming a partnership, check whether it names a source.
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The One Verified Link: Gotham’s Ford Shares
The link runs through Gotham’s holdings. In 2019, Greenblatt told CNBC he was short Ford because he considered it expensive against the S&P 500. That was a year before Farley became CEO.
At the end of March 2026, Gotham held about 3.0 million Ford shares. By June 30, it had sold 1,542,576 of them, leaving 1,434,698 shares worth about $19.9 million. Gotham’s whole 13F filing covers 1,791 holdings worth $43.0 billion, so Ford is a very small position. A 13F also shows long positions only, so it cannot reveal shorts. Treat it as a snapshot, not an endorsement.
Why People Search These Two Names Together
Our reading is that people want to know what a famous value investor thinks of a famous CEO’s company. The honest answer is in the sections below.
Who Is Joel Greenblatt?
Education and Early Career
Greenblatt studied at Wharton and went on to build one of the best-known value investing careers in the United States. His early Gotham fund was reported to have averaged about 40% annual returns before it returned outside capital.
Gotham Capital and Gotham Asset Management
Gotham Asset Management was created in 2008 as the successor to Gotham Capital, and Greenblatt runs it with partner Robert Goldstein. He is also a former chairman of aerospace company Alliant Techsystems.
Books and Teaching
His books include You Can Be a Stock Market Genius, The Little Book That Beats the Market, The Big Secret for the Small Investor and Common Sense (2020). Sources disagree on whether he still teaches, so we describe his Columbia years in the past tense.
What Is Joel Greenblatt’s Magic Formula?
The Magic Formula is a rules-based form of value investing. It aims to buy good businesses at low prices without forecasting the market.
How Magic Formula Investing Works
- Skip financials and utilities. The method excludes finance and utility stocks.
- Calculate earnings yield. This is EBIT divided by enterprise value, which shows how cheap a company is.
- Calculate return on capital. This is EBIT divided by net fixed assets plus working capital, which shows how good the business is.
- Rank and combine. The two rankings merge into one overall score.
- Buy a basket. The guideline is 20 to 30 stocks, bought a few at a time across the year.
- Rebalance yearly. Sell losers about a week before the one-year mark and winners about a week after.
Limits Real Investors Face
The method simplifies investing but does not guarantee success every year. It also does not work in all market conditions. In practice, EBIT definitions differ by data provider, one-time charges can distort a year, and a small account struggles to hold 20 to 30 stocks.
Who Is Jim Farley?
Early Life and Toyota Years
Farley was born in Buenos Aires, and his grandfather worked at Ford’s Highland Park plant. Before Ford, he was group vice president and general manager of Lexus at Toyota.
Rise at Ford
He joined Ford in 2007 and later led Lincoln, Ford of Europe, global markets and the new businesses and technology group. Ford announced on August 4, 2020, that he would succeed Jim Hackett as CEO.
Is Jim Farley Still Ford’s CEO?
Yes. He spoke as Ford’s CEO at the Automotive News Congress in Detroit on September 29, 2026, and he addressed Ford’s Accelerate event on the skilled worker shortage the same week.
Jim Farley’s Leadership at Ford
The Ford+ Plan and Ford’s Business Units
The Ford+ plan splits the company into Ford Blue (gas and hybrid), Model e (EVs and software) and Ford Pro (commercial). In 2025, Ford Pro earned $6.8 billion in EBIT, Ford Blue earned $3.0 billion, and Model e lost $4.8 billion.
Ford’s $19.5 Billion EV Reset Explained.
Ford announced a $19.5 billion charge as it pivoted to hybrids and extended-range vehicles, ending the F-150 Lightning in its current form. The charge covers $8.5 billion in first-generation EV write-downs, $6 billion tied to exiting the SK On battery venture and $5 billion in cash restructuring. The first Universal EV Platform vehicle is a midsize pickup planned for 2027. Farley calls launching the $30,000 Fathom pickup at scale, at cost and on time a major effort.
Why $19.5 Billion and an $8.2 Billion Loss Do Not Match
They measure different things. Ford said the charges would be concentrated in Q4 2025, with the remainder recognized across 2026 and 2027. For 2025, Ford reported record revenue of $187.3 billion, a net loss of $8.2 billion and adjusted EBIT of $6.8 billion. That loss was the largest since the 2008 financial crisis.
What Ford Expects Next
Ford guided to adjusted EBIT of $8.0 billion to $10.0 billion for 2026 and targets an 8% margin by 2029. Farley says a culture overhaul gives him confidence the latest quality turnaround will last.
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How Much Does Jim Farley Make?
Ford CEO Compensation for 2025
Ford’s 2026 proxy shows Farley’s 2025 pay at $27.5 million, up from $24.9 million in 2024, with a $1.7 million salary and a $5.75 million cash bonus. Most of the rest came from stock awards. The median Ford employee earned $93,397, a CEO pay ratio of 295 to 1.
Jim Farley’s Net Worth: Why We Give No Number
Online estimates disagree widely and rarely show their math. For a reliable picture, read the proxy statement for pay and insider ownership filings for shares.
Jim Farley’s Boards and Family
McDonald’s and Harley-Davidson
McDonald’s added Farley to its board in February 2026. McDonald’s proxy notes Harley-Davidson said he would not stand for reelection there.
Is Jim Farley Related to Chris Farley?
Yes. Farley has told stories about his cousin, the late comedian Chris Farley.
Joel Greenblatt vs. Jim Farley: Side by Side Comparison
| Factor | Joel Greenblatt | Jim Farley |
| Core job | Chooses which companies to own | Decides how one company spends and builds |
| Key question | Is this business good and cheap? | Can Ford earn profits in trucks, hybrids and EVs together? |
| Main tools | Earnings yield, return on capital, portfolio rules | Capital allocation, product launches, cost control |
| Time horizon | Holding periods measured in years, with yearly rebalancing | Multi year product cycles through 2027 and 2029 targets |
| Success measure | Investment returns | Earnings, quality and share price |
| Typical risk | A cheap stock stays cheap | A large strategic bet needs a big write down |
| Overlap | Firm has held, sold and once shorted Ford | Leads the company Gotham has owned |
Applying a Value Investor’s Lens to Ford
This is educational, not investment advice, and there is no evidence Greenblatt analyzed Ford this way.
Reported vs. Adjusted Earnings
Ford’s $8.2 billion net loss and $6.8 billion adjusted EBIT would produce very different Magic Formula rankings. The choice of earnings matters more than the formula.
Ford Credit, Capital Spending and Tariffs
Ford Credit earned $2.6 billion before taxes in 2025. The formula skips financial companies, so a mixed business needs judgment. Ford expects capital spending of $9.5 billion to $10.5 billion in 2026, and it will absorb roughly $2 billion in net tariff costs in 2025. A formula starts the research. It cannot replace reading the filings.
Key Lessons From Both Careers
- Judge business quality and share price separately.
- Read adjusted and reported earnings side by side.
- Treat a 13F as a snapshot, not a verdict.
- Expect even big companies to change strategy, as Ford did with EVs.
- Verify claims against primary documents like proxies and SEC filings.
Conclusion
Joel Greenblatt and Jim Farley share no partnership, only a market relationship: an investor whose firm has owned, shorted and recently halved its Ford stake, and a CEO steering Ford through a costly EV reset.
Greenblatt offers a disciplined way to judge price and quality. Farley’s Ford shows how charges and headlines can pull a company’s numbers in different directions. Use both lessons, and trust only what you can verify.
FAQ’s
Are Joel Greenblatt and Jim Farley business partners?
No. We found no joint company, fund, board seat or public project.
Does Joel Greenblatt own Ford stock?
Gotham Asset Management held 1,434,698 Ford shares on June 30, 2026, worth about $19.9 million. That is the firm’s position, not necessarily Greenblatt’s personal holding.
What is Gotham Asset Management?
It is the firm run by Greenblatt and Robert Goldstein, successor to Gotham Capital, which Greenblatt founded in 1985.
What is Joel Greenblatt best known for?
The Magic Formula and The Little Book That Beats the Market.
What is Jim Farley’s role at Ford?
He is president and CEO and has led the company since October 1, 2020.
How much does Ford CEO Jim Farley make a year?
His 2025 pay was $27.5 million, and the CEO pay ratio was 295 to 1.
Is Jim Farley related to Chris Farley?
Yes, they were cousins.
What is Ford’s $19.5 billion EV charge?
The total cost of Ford’s pivot to hybrids and extended-range vehicles, mostly booked in late 2025, with the rest across 2026 and 2027.
I’m Elyon Marwood, the voice behind BlessWithUs. Writing has always been more than just words for me; it’s a way to share faith, spread hope, and bring light into someone’s day. Through heartfelt blessings, meaningful prayers, and uplifting messages, I create moments that help you slow down, feel at peace, and reconnect with what truly matters. Every piece I write carries a purpose to comfort your heart, strengthen your faith, and remind you that even in the quietest moments, you are deeply guided, loved, and blessed.
