Money / Ford CEO Credited With Saving Ford Retiring Alan Mulally will be replaced by Mark Fields By Newser Editors and Wire Services Posted May 1, 2014 8:13 AM CDT Copied Alan Mulally, President and CEO of the Ford Motor Co., is interviewed at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Monday, Jan. 13, 2014. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio) Ford CEO Alan Mulally will retire July 1 and be replaced by Chief Operating Officer Mark Fields, the company announced in a news release this morning. The 68-year-old Mulally is credited with saving Ford from financial ruin after being hired away from Boeing in 2006. Fields, who has been running the company's daily operations since December 2012, will also become a member of the automaker's board of directors. The exit is only a partial surprise: Wall Street Journal last month reported that Mulally intended to leave the company earlier than expected, but today reports that the transition will happen about six months ahead of schedule, after Mulally asked to speed things up. (More Ford stories.) Report an error