Ford CFO swap: Sherry House, GM engineer turned investment banker, rises

John Lawler to VP, strategic development

Ford Motor Co. announced a CFO swap on earnings day.

John Lawler, chief financial officer since 2020, is turning over the reins to Sherry House — an executive who says her evolution from product engineer to investment banker reflects a passion for innovation and wanting to see it funded.

The automaker noted in its news release on Wednesday that a change had been planned. Their timeline was initially revealed when house began at Ford as vice president of finance last summer.

“Sherry combines a strong track record of driving performance and cost efficiency at auto industry OEMs and suppliers with real-world experience in investment banking, mobility and technology, including electric vehicles and autonomy,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a statement.

The company’s board of directors approved the change effective Thurs., Feb. 6, Ford said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

House, 53, has served as vice president of finance, since June 3, 2024, when she joined the company, the filing said.

“In that role Ms. House had primary responsibility for Financial Planning and Analysis at the Company and oversaw the finance organizations for the Company’s customer-focused business segments: Ford Blue, Ford Pro, and Ford Model e,” the federal filing said.

Sherry House, new CFO at Ford Motor Co. (Photo: Ford)

Prior to joining Ford, House worked as CFO at Lucid Motors. She was there from May 2021 until December 2023. Previously, “she held various positions at Waymo, serving as director of corporate development from January 2019 until June 2020 and as the treasurer and head of investor relations from July 2020 until April 2021.”

Waymo, formerly the Google Self-Driving Car Project based in Mountain View, Calif., is owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet.

The three years that House spent at Lucid was during a period when the company went public, started building and delivering luxury electric vehicles, and opened factories in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.

Her background includes GM

House spent a decade working in venture capital, private equity and investment banking, according to her Ford bio. She worked at Deloitte Corporate Finance, GTCR LLC investment and Alta Partners.

At Deloitte, she founded and served as national leader of the company’s “corporate venture capital strategy service line and advised several Fortune 500 companies in the development of corporate VC funds ranging in size from $50 million to $500 million,” her LinkedIn profile said.

At GTCR, House was recruited during a national search to oversee accounting, finance, and tax processes, upgrade staff and execute a large-scale technology implementation at a top 50, $8 billion private equity fund.

Earlier, House did two stints at cross-town rival General Motors, in product engineering (1994-1998), then working in both Detroit and Silicon Valley in corporate development and strategy, accounting, venture capital and business planning and analysis (1999-2005)

The 1997 Chevy Malibu was named “Car of the Year” by Motor Trend.

A highlight of her engineering career included managing the 15-member seating system product development team from concept initiation through commercialization of the Motor Trend 1997 Car of the Year, Chevrolet Malibu, according to her LinkedIn.

“Led validation and testing of several automotive seating systems, including GM’s first electric car, EV1,” the LinkedIn bio said. “Selected to lead team in the cost, efficiency, and human resource analysis of 4 worldwide manufacturing operations. Leveraged Toyota Production System methodologies to identify $10 million in savings, enhance labor utilization, and improve operational efficiency.”

Years later, as a senior manager in GM finance, House led the team responsible for annual global budgeting and five-year business plans, competitive intelligence, and product line profitability, LinkedIn said. House was also appointed to conduct year-end accounting reviews of the Top 50 GM operating units each with revenues in excess of $100 million.

Background: University of Michigan, Kettering

As CFO at Lucid, House was named an Industry Influencer by the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2002, which said, “She possesses a deep understanding of financial operations for both Fortune 500 and emerging companies and how to improve upon them.”

When accepting her award, she explained her deep ties to the auto industry and a passion for innovation and getting it funded. Watch her acceptance speech here.

Sherry House, a former CFO at Lucid Motors, has just been named CFO at Ford Motor Co. (Photo: Provided by Sherry House via LinkedIn)

House earned master’s degrees in business administration and manufacturing engineering from the University of Michigan (1996-1998, and bachelor of science degrees in mechanical and industrial engineering from Kettering University (1990-1994).

Lawler isn’t leaving

Lawler remains at Ford as vice chair, a title he assumed on June 3, 2024. The company said he will focus on strategic development, future global partnerships and engaging world leaders on policy critical to the industry.

Previously, Lawler had been CEO of Ford Autonomous Vehicles and vice president, mobility partnerships, and spent much of his 30 years at Ford in finance leadership and general management. He also served as president of Ford China and served as corporate controller and CFO, global markets and head of worldwide strategy.

Looking ahead

Moving House into the CFO slot bodes well for Ford, Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions of Chester Springs, Penn., said at the time.

"You don't just want a numbers cruncher but someone who understands how the vehicles are put together and where the money goes," Fiorani said.

John McElroy, analyst at Autoline, told me on Wednesday, “It’s extremely rare to see somebody go from product engineering into finance and investment banking. She’s got to be brilliant. I’ve never seen that kind of career path before.”

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