He is a cousin of the company's Executive Chairman, William Clay Ford Jr.[1][2] Ford attended Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, Massachusetts, and graduated in 1968 from The Gunnery in Washington, Connecticut before entering Babson College.

[5] As a board member of Ford, Edsel has been active in company affairs and corporate dealer relations.

[7][8] His retirement was announced in 2021 and his son Henry Ford III was elected to the board to replace him at the May shareholders' meeting.

[14] He was previously chairman of the National Advisory Board of the Salvation Army and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Detroit Branch.

[16] On Monday July 4, 2016, Edsel was arrested at his home in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan on domestic violence charges stemming from a phone call made by his wife Cynthia.