By Christina Rogers in Detroit and Anupreeta Das in New York 

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (June 30, 2018).

SoftBank Group Corp. poached Ford Motor Co.'s chief global lobbyist who will lead a new effort to build a Beltway presence.

Ziad Ojakli, a Ford group vice president who has led the Detroit auto maker's government relations strategy since 2004, resigned Thursday and will leave the company mid-July, Ford said. He starts at SoftBank on Aug. 1.

Mr. Ojakli is the latest in a line of prominent executives to leave the No. 2 American car maker since Chief Executive Jim Hackett was hired last year.

The move comes as Ford and other auto makers are seeking to court influence with the White House on a range of issues, including President Donald Trump's efforts to ease fuel-economy rules and the threat of new tariffs on American auto imports.

Mr. Ojakli's hiring is aimed at bolstering SoftBank's presence in Washington. The Japanese technology company wants to cultivate more sustained relations with officials in Washington because the U.S. is a major market for the company's investments, a person familiar with the matter said.

The company, through its $100 billion Vision Fund, has invested in Uber Technologies Inc., WeWork Cos. and other startups. SoftBank also recently invested $2.25 billion in GM Cruise Holdings, a developer of driverless cars that is majority-owned by General Motors Co.

As SoftBank expands the network of entrepreneurs it backs, its executives also wanted to create a government-relations group that can help those company founders navigate policy and regulation, the person said.

In May, SoftBank said Marcelo Claure, its new chief operating officer, would lead its global government affairs efforts. Mr. Ojakli is the first of several planned hires aimed at helping to transition SoftBank from a Japanese telecommunications firm into a global investment company, the person said.

Mr. Ojakli, 51, has been a steady presence for Ford in Washington, helping to steer the company's government relations strategy through some pivotal moments, including the U.S. auto industry's near collapse during the financial crisis and a deal to implement new fuel-economy regulations under President Barack Obama. He reports directly to Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. and oversees the company's efforts to engage with governments world-wide. Mr. Ojakli also leads Ford's philanthropic arm.

Mr. Ojakli's name recently surfaced in the news after Michael Cohen, Mr. Trump's former personal attorney, made an overture to provide consulting services to Ford in January 2017, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Ojakli quickly rebuffed Mr. Cohen's offer, which special counsel Robert Mueller later learned about in the course of his investigation, the people said.

Mr. Ojakli's exit comes as Mr. Hackett, who was hired in May 2017, works to stabilize his management team following the departure of several top executives within the past year. Among them was John Casesa, Ford's former strategy chief who left last fall, and Ford's head of China, who departed in January after fewer than six months on the job.

Earlier this year, Ford's chief for North America, Raj Nair, was abruptly fired following allegations of misconduct. Mr. Nair, a 31-year veteran at Ford, was elevated to the post, running Ford's most profitable region, by Mr. Hackett last year as part of a broader management reshuffle.

Write to Christina Rogers at christina.rogers@wsj.com and Anupreeta Das at anupreeta.das@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 30, 2018 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)