Beth E. Ford (born 1964) is an American businessperson. Ford is most notable for being the CEO of Land O'Lakes, an American agricultural cooperative which she assumed leadership of in 2018. She is the first openly gay female CEO of an American Fortune 500 company. She is a member of the President's Export Council.[1] In 2023. She was ranked 26th on Fortune's list of Most Powerful Women.[2]
Biography
Ford was born in Sioux City, Iowa, the fifth in a family of eight children, and attended Catholic schools through high school. Her father was a truck driver and a used car salesman, while her mother was a nurse before completing her master's degree and becoming a psychologist.[3] Ford's mother was left in an orphanage when she was five by her parents, eventually getting adopted at age ten.