This week Family Business Office, for its fifteenth edition of Focus On World Business Leaders , brings you Andrew C Taylor, Executive Chairman at Enterprise Holdings Inc , a world leader in the car rental industry. Andrew C. (Andy) Taylor, who became involved in the automotive business more than 50 years ago, currently serves as Executive Chairman of Enterprise Holdings Inc., the privately held business founded in 1957 by his father, Jack Taylor, and is therefore second generation business.

Taylor joined Enterprise at the age of 16 in one of the original St. Louis offices. He began his career by washing cars during summer and holiday vacations and learning the business from the ground up. After earning his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Denver in 1970, Taylor opted to gain some initial experience outside of the family business and began working for RLM Leasing, a Ford Motor company affiliate in San Francisco. After three years at the company, Taylor returned to Enterprise, which, at the time, operated a fleet of only 5,000 cars. In 1976, he became the General Manager of Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s St. Louis regional operations, and was promoted in 1980 to President and Chief Operating Officer. Taylor became Chief Executive Officer in 1991, Chairman in 2001 and Executive Chairman in 2013.

Enterprise grew from a fleet of 5,000 cars to more than 900,000 vehicles internationally during his tenure. With the purchase of Vanguard Automotive Group, Enterprise gained both National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car. The combined fleet is over 1.5 million vehicles rented out by roughly 100,000 employees.

Today, Enterprise Holdings and its affiliate Enterprise Fleet Management together offer a total transportation solution. Combined, these businesses – which include extensive car rental and car sharing services, commercial truck rental, corporate fleet management, and retail car sales – accounted for $15.4 billion in revenue and operated 1.3 million vehicles throughout the world in fiscal 2012. Ranked by Forbes as one of America’s Largest Private Companies, Enterprise Holdings’ revenues also place the company near the top of the travel industry, exceeding many airlines and most cruise lines, hotels, tour operators and online travel agencies.

In 2009, Taylor was inducted into the U.S. Travel Hall of Leaders for his leadership role in challenging excise taxes that single out rental car customers to fund unrelated projects and programs in local communities. He is one of 81 travel industry professionals who have been inducted into the Travel Hall of Leaders since its inception in 1969. In addition, in 2011, Automotive News magazine named Taylor as one of the “Electrifying 100” key players driving vehicle electrification, further underscoring the impact of Enterprise’s extensive fleet and neighborhood network as well as its efforts to introduce new technology into the marketplace.

( All factual and statistical information presented in this blog has been obtained from reference material from Bloomberg.com and Familybusinessmagazine.com ) Follow us on our Facebook page and Family Business Office website at www.familybusiness.org.mt

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