In a lawsuit instituted by his second ex-wife Linda in 2011, it was alleged that Thursfield had recently been given £3.5 million in payments from Cerberus Capital Management, a New York private equity firm that employed him post Ford.
David Thursfield, a former executive vice president of Ford Motor Company and then a top Cerberus executive, has been sentenced to two years in jail in Great Britain for allegedly hiding assets during a contentious divorce settlement in 2005.
Thursfield’s ex-wife Linda, a U.K. dental surgeon, blamed the break-up of the marriage on her husband’s interest in Rachel Measures whom he married immediately after their divorce settlement was finalized, according to an interview in the Daily Mail. Thursfield denies wrongdoing and is appealing the judgment against him issued in his absence.
Thursfield made millions of dollars annually as a senior Ford Motor executive in Australia, Spain, the U.K, Germany and the Unites States. He was known, and feared among suppliers, for his ruthless cost cutting, so much so that one famously quipped that Thursfield was like the Izod alligator logo – all teeth and no ears.
In a lawsuit instituted by his second ex-wife Linda in 2011, it was alleged that Thursfield had recently been given £3.5 million in payments from Cerberus Capital Management, a New York private equity firm that employed him post Ford where he advised Cerberus not to purchase Chrysler from Daimler, according to well placed sources known to AutoInformed. The judge ruled that he violated a court order to disclose details of his assets.
Not many tears to be shed for Thursfield in the North American industry, I reckon. He epitomized the Snotty Brit executive. Most in Dearborn were glad to see him leave.