Henry Ford

1863-1947. American industrialist, founder of the Ford Motor Company. Famous for the Model T, the first car affordable for middle-class Americans.

Ford sold inexpensive cars while paying high wages to his workers (so that they too had some money to spend as consumers, feeding it back into the economy). This business model worked because Ford relentlessly sought to cut costs. He was the first to introduce, on grand scale, assembly lines in his factories, and he was a champion of standardised mass production. According to a popular anecdote, he once said: "You can have your car in whichever color you want, provided you want black" (or words to that effect).