Bradley Gayton is the company’s new governance officer.
The famous US automaker, Ford Motor, announced that Peter Sherry, corporate secretary and associate general counsel for corporate and commercial matters, is set to retire in early April after more than 31 years of service.
Sherry is expected to pass the torch to Bradley Gayton, who is the company’s incumbent assistant general counsel and corporate secretary. Gayton has been serving in this role since January 2011, the Michigan-based automaker confirms.
In his new role, Gayton will assume responsibility as secretary to the board and for related legal matters such as SEC filings, compliance, proxy statements and annual meeting matters. He will also provide additional support to Ford's Treasury operations.
In addition, Gayton will oversee all legal matters for Canada, Mexico and South America and report to David Leitch, the company’s group vice president and general counsel.
In 1991, Gayton joined Ford as a staff attorney and since then the experienced litigator has held numerous leadership positions. These include being director of global trade, taxation and customs; assistant tax officer; and director of legal affairs for Canada, Mexico and South America.
Sherry joined the company in 1980 as a staff attorney and held positions of increasing responsibility throughout his career at Ford.
He spearheaded the sale of Ford's heavy truck operations to Freightliner in 1997, the acquisition of Volvo Cars from AB Volvo in 1999 and the acquisition of Land Rover from BMW in 2000. Sherry also spent four years working in Ford of Europe. Additionally, he was appointed secretary of the company in 2003, and in that role participated in numerous major corporate governance initiatives.
