Kerkorian's Ford holdings set to increase

DEARBORN, Mich., June 8 (UPI) -- Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian's share of Ford Motor Co. will become bigger by 20 million shares Monday, prompting speculation about his next move.

With expiration of his tender offer Monday, Kerkorian's ownership stake in Ford will jump to 5.5 percent of outstanding shares, up from 4.7 percent, and the new shares will give him leverage in a struggle with the founding Ford family over the direction of the company, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

The newspaper said the family, which owns only 3 percent of the shares but has 40 percent of the voting rights, could potentially be at odds with Kerkorian if the company's turnaround efforts don't show demonstrable results. Kerkorian is exerting pressure on company Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally to take controversial steps such as killing the Mercury brand to cut costs, which some family members oppose.

The newspaper said if Ford family members can't engineer a return to profitability, they may be forced to seek a capital injection, which Kerkorian could provide at a price -- a surrender by the family of their out-sized voting rights.

Falling sales volumes have forced Ford to cut its employee force by 40,000 workers.