Ford Motor Company, one of the worlds" largest corporations, was created on June 17, 1903. It all began when Henry Ford and 11 associates filed papers of incorporation in the state of Michigan with only $28,000 in cash. At the time of its incorporation, it was a small operation working out of a converted Detroit wagon shop staffed with about 10 people. In the beginning, it was a small company on the brink of bankruptcy until revenue from sales began to pour in. With their first sale to a Detroit physician on July 20, 1903, one month after incorporation, came hope for the future.
Between 1903 and 1908, Ford Motor Company used the first 19 letters of the alphabet to signify their different models, beginning with the creation of the Model A in 1903. Under the supervision of chief engineer (and later president) Henry Ford, they produced 1,700 Model A cars in their first 15 months of operation. Several of the cars that were created were experimental and never were sold to the public, but there were a couple of successful models. Their most successful car was the Model N, which was a small compact car that sold for $500. However, Henry Fords" Model K, an unsuccessful six cylinder luxury car, along with his persistence in the production of affordable cars for the mass market, caused a great deal of tension between him and Alexander Malcomson.
Malcomson was a Detroit coal dealer who helped tremendously with purchasing equipment and raising the original $28,000 to start the company. Consequently, Malcomson left the company and Henry Ford acquired enough of his stock to own 58.5 percent of the company. In 1906, he became the new president of Ford Motor Company, replacing the first president John S. Gray. Nevertheless, these quarrels between stockholders were nothing compared to the threat that George Seldon placed on this young companies future. Seldon held a patent on road locomotive powered by combustion engines, which automobiles producers needed to access to ship the materials to produce their cars.
