He first began with a small fleet of just twelve Ford Model-Ts and set up shop just south of Chicago's loop. Within just five years’ time, this fleet had expanded to six hundred vehicles and was already generating annual revenues at an estimated one million U.S. dollars.
Jacobs then sold his company to John D. Hertz in 1923 who renamed the company in his name and made it a subsidiary of his Yellow Truck and Coach Manufacturing Company. Hertz renamed the company Hertz Drive-Ur-Self System. Walter L. Jacobs serving as president of the firm until his retirement in 1960, and as director of the Hertz Corporation until 1968.
In 1926, the company once again switched hands, this time to General Motors. In 1953, John Hertz repurchased the Hertz brand from General Motors. In 1954, the company issued common stock to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Furthermore, the company purchased a brand new company, Metropolitan Distributors, which came with a fleet of 4000 trucks.
By 1938, Hertz had expanded its locations to include Canada, and by 1950, the first European Hertz location opened in France. In 1955, Hertz officially had 1,000 locations.
In the summer of 1987, the company would then be sold once again, this time to Ford Motors, for $1.3 Billion USD. By 2005, Hertz represented about 10% of Ford’s overall earnings before tax.
In 2005, Hertz was acquired by a trio of private equity investment companies, which then took the company public in 2006.
Hertz rent-a-car - American car rental company
