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| Jack Taylor, Founder of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Dies at 94 | Jack Taylor, Founder of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Dies at 94 |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Jack C. Taylor was a young salesman at a St. Louis Cadillac dealership in 1957 when he became intrigued by the relatively new practice of automobile leasing. “You’ve been looking for someone to start the leasing business,” he told his boss. “I’d like to do it.” | Jack C. Taylor was a young salesman at a St. Louis Cadillac dealership in 1957 when he became intrigued by the relatively new practice of automobile leasing. “You’ve been looking for someone to start the leasing business,” he told his boss. “I’d like to do it.” |
| Obtaining a quarter interest in the venture, Mr. Taylor and an assistant set up an office walled off from the dealership’s noisy service bays and called it Executive Leasing. It had only seven cars, and Mr. Taylor would let the phone ring a few extra times so that potential customers would think business was brisk. | Obtaining a quarter interest in the venture, Mr. Taylor and an assistant set up an office walled off from the dealership’s noisy service bays and called it Executive Leasing. It had only seven cars, and Mr. Taylor would let the phone ring a few extra times so that potential customers would think business was brisk. |
| Soon, it would be. When Mr. Taylor died on Saturday in St. Louis at 94, he presided over an unconventional automotive industry colossus, Enterprise Holdings, a family-owned business that since 2007 has encompassed the Alamo Rent A Car and National Car Rental brands, as well as Enterprise Rent-A-Car and other interests. | Soon, it would be. When Mr. Taylor died on Saturday in St. Louis at 94, he presided over an unconventional automotive industry colossus, Enterprise Holdings, a family-owned business that since 2007 has encompassed the Alamo Rent A Car and National Car Rental brands, as well as Enterprise Rent-A-Car and other interests. |
| Enterprise, identified by its trademark green and white “e” logo and the slogan “We’ll Pick You Up,” says it had $19.4 billion in revenue in 2015 and more than 1.7 million vehicles, double the size of Hertz or Avis, its major American rivals. With a retail automotive division, it is also the largest buyer and seller of cars and trucks in the world. | Enterprise, identified by its trademark green and white “e” logo and the slogan “We’ll Pick You Up,” says it had $19.4 billion in revenue in 2015 and more than 1.7 million vehicles, double the size of Hertz or Avis, its major American rivals. With a retail automotive division, it is also the largest buyer and seller of cars and trucks in the world. |
| But despite its immense size, Enterprise has attracted less notice than its big competitors, particularly among business travelers, mainly because of its traditional focus on downtown and suburban locations, rather than airports, and its private ownership. | But despite its immense size, Enterprise has attracted less notice than its big competitors, particularly among business travelers, mainly because of its traditional focus on downtown and suburban locations, rather than airports, and its private ownership. |
| Enterprise began operating at airports only in 1995. It bought the Alamo and National brands in 2007 precisely to expand its foothold in the airport market. | Enterprise began operating at airports only in 1995. It bought the Alamo and National brands in 2007 precisely to expand its foothold in the airport market. |
| Forbes magazine estimated Mr. Taylor’s wealth at $5.3 billion this year. His company confirmed his death in a statement. | Forbes magazine estimated Mr. Taylor’s wealth at $5.3 billion this year. His company confirmed his death in a statement. |
| Mr. Taylor, tall, unassuming and a dapper dresser, liked to say that he instilled entrepreneurial spirit in his branch managers by treating them as partners, with pay and promotion based on local results. Enterprise employs about 90,000 people with about 8,000 branches in the United States and about 70 other countries. | Mr. Taylor, tall, unassuming and a dapper dresser, liked to say that he instilled entrepreneurial spirit in his branch managers by treating them as partners, with pay and promotion based on local results. Enterprise employs about 90,000 people with about 8,000 branches in the United States and about 70 other countries. |
| The Enterprise staff of 200 recruiters is believed to hire more college graduates each year than any other American company, starting most of these as management trainees washing and vacuuming cars. | The Enterprise staff of 200 recruiters is believed to hire more college graduates each year than any other American company, starting most of these as management trainees washing and vacuuming cars. |
| Mr. Taylor was engaged with company policy into his 90s. | Mr. Taylor was engaged with company policy into his 90s. |
| Jack Crawford Taylor was born on April 14, 1922, in St. Louis to Melburne Taylor and the former Dorothy Crawford. He was late to find a calling. “I was a very callow youth,” he told an Ernst & Young magazine that named him entrepreneur of the year in 1997, “I had no direction.” | Jack Crawford Taylor was born on April 14, 1922, in St. Louis to Melburne Taylor and the former Dorothy Crawford. He was late to find a calling. “I was a very callow youth,” he told an Ernst & Young magazine that named him entrepreneur of the year in 1997, “I had no direction.” |
| A poor student by his account, he joked that World War II, which ended his college career after two semesters at Washington University in St. Louis, “saved me from any further educational opportunities.” | A poor student by his account, he joked that World War II, which ended his college career after two semesters at Washington University in St. Louis, “saved me from any further educational opportunities.” |
| Enlisting in the Navy after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Mr. Taylor flew a Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter from the decks of aircraft carriers in the Pacific, including the U.S.S. Enterprise, for which he named his company. He was twice decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross. | Enlisting in the Navy after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Mr. Taylor flew a Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter from the decks of aircraft carriers in the Pacific, including the U.S.S. Enterprise, for which he named his company. He was twice decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross. |
| The military matured him and gave him a sense of competence, he said. “After landing a Hellcat on the pitching deck of a carrier or watching enemy tracer bullets stream past your canopy, somehow the risk of starting up my own company didn’t seem all that big a deal,” he recalled. | The military matured him and gave him a sense of competence, he said. “After landing a Hellcat on the pitching deck of a carrier or watching enemy tracer bullets stream past your canopy, somehow the risk of starting up my own company didn’t seem all that big a deal,” he recalled. |
| But he still was not dreaming big after five successful years selling used and then new cars in St. Louis. This was when he and the owner of the dealership, Lindburg Cadillac, created the leasing precursor to the Enterprise empire. | But he still was not dreaming big after five successful years selling used and then new cars in St. Louis. This was when he and the owner of the dealership, Lindburg Cadillac, created the leasing precursor to the Enterprise empire. |
| Although Enterprise depends less on airport traffic than major rivals and is therefore more resistant to recession, it has still found a need to diversify. It now includes corporate fleet management as well as retail car sales. One sizable unit is the Centric Group, a $1 billion-a-year business involved in, among other things, coffee, luggage, prison food services and ownership of a golf course. | Although Enterprise depends less on airport traffic than major rivals and is therefore more resistant to recession, it has still found a need to diversify. It now includes corporate fleet management as well as retail car sales. One sizable unit is the Centric Group, a $1 billion-a-year business involved in, among other things, coffee, luggage, prison food services and ownership of a golf course. |
| “Enterprise sort of grew by itself,” Mr. Taylor told Fortune magazine in 2006. “I never thought it would be more than a small to medium-sized business. I knew I wanted to live reasonably comfortably and to get a couple of new cars every two or three years, and I thought that if I was really successful, I would have maybe a condominium in Florida and a reasonably nice house here in St. Louis.” | “Enterprise sort of grew by itself,” Mr. Taylor told Fortune magazine in 2006. “I never thought it would be more than a small to medium-sized business. I knew I wanted to live reasonably comfortably and to get a couple of new cars every two or three years, and I thought that if I was really successful, I would have maybe a condominium in Florida and a reasonably nice house here in St. Louis.” |
| Executive Leasing grew slowly, recording its first profit in its third year. But by 1961, it had 1,000 cars on the street and three St. Louis-area locations. | Executive Leasing grew slowly, recording its first profit in its third year. But by 1961, it had 1,000 cars on the street and three St. Louis-area locations. |
| On occasion, Mr. Taylor and his wife, Mary Ann, with their small pajama-clad children in the back seat of their car, made nighttime forays to repossess cars from deadbeats. He would use a spare key; she would drive home with the children. | On occasion, Mr. Taylor and his wife, Mary Ann, with their small pajama-clad children in the back seat of their car, made nighttime forays to repossess cars from deadbeats. He would use a spare key; she would drive home with the children. |
| Before long, some of his leasing customers and buyers of Lindburg cars who had taken them in for repairs began to agitate for short-term rentals. | Before long, some of his leasing customers and buyers of Lindburg cars who had taken them in for repairs began to agitate for short-term rentals. |
| Mr. Taylor resisted, regarding the rental-car business not only as a cutthroat industry with a dubious future but also as one that would be “a big pain,” as he put it — a time-consuming distraction for his leasing sales staff. | Mr. Taylor resisted, regarding the rental-car business not only as a cutthroat industry with a dubious future but also as one that would be “a big pain,” as he put it — a time-consuming distraction for his leasing sales staff. |
| “We started out saying, ‘We don’t rent cars,’ ’’ Mr. Taylor recounted in a corporate history. But after accommodating some good customers, he relented, and in 1963 he began what he saw as a sideline rental business, with 17 Chevrolets, for which he charged $5 a day and 5 cents a mile. | “We started out saying, ‘We don’t rent cars,’ ’’ Mr. Taylor recounted in a corporate history. But after accommodating some good customers, he relented, and in 1963 he began what he saw as a sideline rental business, with 17 Chevrolets, for which he charged $5 a day and 5 cents a mile. |
| But rentals soon thrived, propelled by imaginative relationships that aides struck up with insurance companies. Adjusters would offer a rental car, often those of Enterprise, instead of cash to a driver making a claim. Passage of no-fault insurance legislation also stimulated rental growth by eliminating lengthy arguments over who should pay for repairs after traffic collisions. | But rentals soon thrived, propelled by imaginative relationships that aides struck up with insurance companies. Adjusters would offer a rental car, often those of Enterprise, instead of cash to a driver making a claim. Passage of no-fault insurance legislation also stimulated rental growth by eliminating lengthy arguments over who should pay for repairs after traffic collisions. |
| This helped open up a vast, largely untapped “home city” market of local residents who needed temporary transportation for a variety of reasons — car repairs, car theft or simply mundane purposes like hosting out-of-town relatives, driving older children to college or impressing an important client. | This helped open up a vast, largely untapped “home city” market of local residents who needed temporary transportation for a variety of reasons — car repairs, car theft or simply mundane purposes like hosting out-of-town relatives, driving older children to college or impressing an important client. |
| “Nobody even knew that the off-airport market existed then,” Mr. Taylor recalled. | “Nobody even knew that the off-airport market existed then,” Mr. Taylor recalled. |
| This home-market dominance, modified in recent years with airport and foreign expansion and the Alamo and National acquisitions, is only one way that Mr. Taylor differentiated media-shy Enterprise from competitors. | This home-market dominance, modified in recent years with airport and foreign expansion and the Alamo and National acquisitions, is only one way that Mr. Taylor differentiated media-shy Enterprise from competitors. |
| Its entrepreneurial culture calls for personnel to dress professionally and to disregard costs to meet customer needs in a crisis, like the one on Sept. 11, 2001, when the terrorist attacks shut down airlines and filled Enterprise branches with stranded travelers. | Its entrepreneurial culture calls for personnel to dress professionally and to disregard costs to meet customer needs in a crisis, like the one on Sept. 11, 2001, when the terrorist attacks shut down airlines and filled Enterprise branches with stranded travelers. |
| Managers organized pools to common destinations, sending cars in all directions even though the company policy does not allow one-way rentals. It took months to get several thousand cars back to their starting points or sold where they ended up. | Managers organized pools to common destinations, sending cars in all directions even though the company policy does not allow one-way rentals. It took months to get several thousand cars back to their starting points or sold where they ended up. |
| Enterprise is also unconventional in offering to pick up customers from home, office or body shop. | Enterprise is also unconventional in offering to pick up customers from home, office or body shop. |
| This signature idea originated in an Orlando, Fla., office when the arrival of no-fault insurance prompted a flood of insurance claims — and demand for rentals. To avoid overcrowding his office, the Orlando manager offered customers making reservations the option of pick-up service at a less busy time. | This signature idea originated in an Orlando, Fla., office when the arrival of no-fault insurance prompted a flood of insurance claims — and demand for rentals. To avoid overcrowding his office, the Orlando manager offered customers making reservations the option of pick-up service at a less busy time. |
| Both of Mr. Taylor’s marriages ended in divorce. The first, from 1945 to 1978, was to Mary Ann MacCarthy, the mother of their two children, Andrew, currently the executive chairman of Enterprise, and Jo Ann Taylor Kindle, the president of the Enterprise Holdings Foundation. Mr. Taylor was married to Susan Orrison from 1979 to 2008. | |
| In addition to his son and daughter, he is survived by five granddaughters and three great-granddaughters. | |
| Mr. Taylor’s wealth allowed him and his family to give away hundreds of millions of dollars, including $50 million to Washington University for scholarships for disadvantaged students and $40 million to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. | Mr. Taylor’s wealth allowed him and his family to give away hundreds of millions of dollars, including $50 million to Washington University for scholarships for disadvantaged students and $40 million to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. |