Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. history, profile and corporate video
Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. is engaged in the global car and equipment rental industry. The company operates through two segments: Car Rental and Equipment Rental. The Car Rental segment maintains a network of company-operated car rental locations both in the United States and internationally. It operates its car rental business through the Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty brands. The Equipment Rental segment operates as an equipment rental company in the United States and Canada. This segment rents earthmoving equipment, material handling equipment, aerial and electrical equipment, air compressors, generators, pumps, small tools, compaction equipment and construction related trucks. It operates its equipment rental business through Hertz Equipment Rental Corp. The company also offers fleet leasing and management services through Donlen Corp. and operates the Hertz On Demand car sharing business. Hertz Global Holdings was founded on July 15, 2005 and is headquartered in Park Ridge, NJ.“
“Hertz Global Holdings History
Early years
The company was founded by Walter L. Jacobs in 1918, who started a car rental operation in Chicago with a dozen Model T Ford cars. In 1923, Jacobs sold it to John D. Hertz who made it a subsidiary of his Yellow Truck and Coach Manufacturing Company and renamed it “Hertz Drive-Ur-Self System”.
He sold a controlling interest in the Yellow Truck and Coach Manufacturing Company (and hence also ‘Hertz Drive-Ur-Self’) to General Motors in 1925 who then purchased the remaining shares in 1943.
Hertz arranged for The Omnibus Corporation, which he also owned, to purchase the car rental business back from GM in 1953. He sold all The Omnibus Corporation’s public transport interests the same year, changed its name to ‘The Hertz Corporation’ and floated it on the New York Stock Exchange the following year.
The Hertz Corporation
In 1967, The Hertz Corporation became a wholly owned subsidiary of RCA but was operated as a separate entity. In 1985, Hertz joined UAL Corporation. On December 30, 1987, Hertz was sold to ‘Park Ridge Corporation’, which was then owned by Ford Motor Company and members of Hertz senior management. In 1988, Volvo North America Corporation invested in Park Ridge Corporation.
On June 13, 2005, Ford issued a notice that Hertz would be let loose in an initial public offering. On September 8, 2005 it was announced it was to be sold toprivate equity companies Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, The Carlyle Group and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity for $15 billion in cash and debt acquisition.The sale was completed on December 22, 2005. This private equity group took Hertz public on November 16, 2006.
On January 11, 2010, Hertz announced the acquisition of used cars dealer British Car Auctions (BCA) for an undisclosed sum.
In November 2011, Hertz introduced ExpressRent kiosks at a number of locations. This was the first large scale car rental kiosk deployment in the U.S. using a live agent assistant via video chat.
On January 3, 2014 it was reported that Hertz shares had jumped in value by 2.6% after the reported purchase of 30-40 million shares by billionaire Carl Icahn in what was believed to be a hostile takeover attempt. In response to Icahn’s reported share purchase the Hertz Board reportedly stated that it would issue one preferred share for each current share in what is referred to as a “poison pill” response.
Key Executives
- Mark Frissora was appointed Chief Executive Officer in January 2007. Prior to joining Hertz, Frissora served as Chairman and CEO of Tenneco, Inc. from 2000 to 2006. In 2011, Frissora announced the launch of the “Hertz Living Journey” corporate sustainability strategy. He was named one of Business Travel News’ Most Influential Business Travel Executives of 2012. Frissora’s compensation from the Hertz Corporation for 2011 was $14,502,624. On January 25, 2013, Frissora sold 120,000 shares of his Hertz stock, earning him $2.16 million.
- Elyse Douglas has been the company’s Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President since October 2007. She has been Treasurer since joining Hertz in July 2006 and was previously Staff Vice President from July 2006 to June 2008. Douglas was recently nominated for CFO Magazine’s inaugural Women in Finance awards in 2012.Recently replaced by Thomas Kennedy.
- Joseph F. Eckroth was appointed Chief Information Officer in June 2007, and has been Senior Vice President of Global Customer Care since April 2009. Eckroth was named one of the Premier 100 IT Leaders of 2013 by ComputerWorld.
- Lois Boyd has been Executive Vice President and President of Hertz Equipment Rental Corporation since April 2011. She was previously Senior Vice President of Advantage Rent-a-Car, appointed when Hertz acquired Advantage in 2009.
- Scott P. Sider has served as Executive Vice President and President of Car Rental and Leasing for the Americas since January 2010. He has overseen fleet planning and remarketing for Hertz America since December 2010. Sider has been with Hertz since 1983.
- Michel Taride was appointed Executive Vice President and President of Hertz International, Ltd. in January 2010. Taride has managed fleet planning and remarketing functions of Hertz International since December 2010.
Hertz Global Holdings Inc
In April 2010, Hertz and Dollar-Thrifty Automotive Group announced an agreement under which Hertz was to acquire Dollar-Thrifty for a purchase price of US$41.00 per share, subject to shareholder approval, in a mix of cash and Hertz common stock.[23] Dollar-Thrifty investors in Tulsa, Oklahoma rejected this US$1.44 billion bid from Hertz on September 30, 2010. Dollar-Thrifty subsequently announced on October 12, 2011 that it had taken itself off the market because it did not receive any proposals that would pass antitrust review. On August 28, 2012, Hertz announced for the second time its intention to acquire Dollar-Thrifty, subject to FTC approval, in this case for US$2.3 billion. This merger would yield combined annual sales of US$10.2 billion. The deal was concluded in November 2012 and resulted in a combined 10,400 locations in approximately 150 countries.
Headquarters Relocation
On May 7, 2013, Hertz executives, alongside Florida Governor Rick Scott, announced the company would be relocating its worldwide headquarters from Park Ridge, New Jersey to Estero, Florida. It will be located on the southeast corner of the intersection of Williams Road and US-41/South Tamiami Trail. This will put it less than a half a mile north of the Coconut Point Mall. Hertz announced though that certain operations will still occur in its old headquarters in Park Ridge.
The new headquarters is now under construction and the new buildings will be fully completed in early 2015.”
*Information from Forbes.com and Wikipedia.org
**Video published on YouTube by “Hertz“