Jack Taylor, founder of Enterprise Holdings, the parent company of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, has passed away at the age of 94.
Taylor died in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri on Saturday following a brief illness, according to a press release by the company. He leaves behind two children—his son Andrew Taylor currently serves as the executive chairman of Enterprise, and his daughter Jo Ann Taylor Kindle is president of the Enterprise Holdings Foundation.
Born on April 14, 1922, Taylor went on to serve in the military for five years during World War II, becoming a decorated Navy fighter pilot. His service ended in 1947, and 10 years later he founded his company, which he had called Executive Leasing. It began with just seven cars and was run out of a Cadillac dealership where he was a salesman. He later renamed it Enterprise after the U.S.S. Enterprise, the aircraft carrier he had served on during the war.
As a private company, profits aren’t publicly disclosed. However, Coins2Day previously reported that Enterprise was one of the largest private companies in the U.S. Enterprise also reported a revenue of $19.4 billion in 2015, which was more than double that of Hertz (HRI) and Avis (CAR), its two largest competitors. The company employs 91,000 people in more than 9,000 locations and over 80 countries.