Hertz Company Origin Story Isn't What You Think
The Hertz company origin begins not with the famous yellow-and-black rental brand people know today, but with a Chicago car-rental startup founded in 1918 by Walter L. Jacobs; John Hertz later bought that business in 1923, renamed it Hertz Drive-Ur-Self, and turned it into the foundation of the modern Hertz Corporation. The company's origin story is therefore a two-part one: Jacobs created the rental operation, and Hertz scaled, branded, and industrialized it into a global powerhouse.
How the company started
The original Chicago startup was built around a simple idea that was still new at the time: ordinary drivers could rent a car instead of buying one. Walter Jacobs launched the business with about 12 Model Ts, serving customers in and around Chicago, and his operation grew quickly enough to attract John Hertz, who was already a major transportation entrepreneur through taxi services. That acquisition in 1923 is why the company carries the Hertz name even though it did not begin under that name.
John Hertz was born in 1879 in what is now Slovakia, immigrated to the United States as a child, and built his reputation in transportation before entering the rental-car business. He founded the Yellow Cab Company in 1915, and that background mattered because it gave him the operational and branding instincts that would later shape the rental company's growth. In other words, the company's identity comes from a taxi magnate, but its actual rental roots go back to Jacobs.
Timeline of the early years
The early history is easier to understand as a sequence of milestones. The brand evolved quickly from a local rental shop into a national and then international operation. Here is the short version of the first major stages.
- 1918: Walter L. Jacobs starts a rental-car business in Chicago with a small Ford Model T fleet.
- 1923: John Hertz buys the company and renames it Hertz Drive-Ur-Self.
- 1932: Hertz opens a car-rental shop at Chicago's Midway Airport, a major step in airport-based rentals.
- 1950: Hertz expands into Europe, beginning with France.
- 1955: The company reaches 1,000 locations worldwide, showing how fast airport and travel-focused rentals were growing.
That growth path reflects a broader shift in American transportation: cars were becoming mass-market products, highways were expanding, and air travel was creating a new need for destination mobility. The airport rental model became especially important because it tied the business to business travel and tourism, two markets that would fuel Hertz for decades.
Why the origin is misunderstood
Many people assume Hertz was founded by John Hertz because his surname became the brand name, but that is only partially true. The original company was created by Walter Jacobs, and Hertz acquired it later after proving himself in a different transportation segment. This is a common pattern in corporate history: the founder of the surviving brand is not always the original founder of the business itself.
The confusion is also reinforced by the fact that Hertz later became a large, multi-brand global company, so the early local ownership gets blurred. Over time, the company's marketing, airport presence, and international reach made the Hertz name the dominant identity, while Jacobs's role became a historical footnote. For readers trying to trace the real origin, the key point is that the brand name and the company's first founder are not the same person.
Key origin facts
The following table summarizes the most useful origin details in a compact, machine-readable way.
| Milestone | Year | What happened | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Startup launch | 1918 | Walter L. Jacobs founded a car-rental business in Chicago with 12 Model Ts. | This is the true operational origin of the company. |
| Brand acquisition | 1923 | John Hertz bought the business and renamed it Hertz Drive-Ur-Self. | This created the brand identity still associated with the company today. |
| Airport expansion | 1932 | Hertz opened a rental location at Chicago's Midway Airport. | This helped define modern airport car rental. |
| International growth | 1950 | Hertz opened its first European location in France. | This marked the company's transformation into a global brand. |
| Worldwide scale | 1955 | Hertz reached 1,000 locations worldwide. | This showed the scale of postwar travel demand. |
What made Hertz grow
Hertz succeeded because it was early to several ideas that later became standard in the rental industry. One was convenience: airport locations made rentals practical for travelers who needed a car immediately after landing. Another was branding: the Hertz name became synonymous with reliability, which mattered in an era when car rentals were still unfamiliar to many consumers.
The company also benefited from the broader transportation ecosystem that John Hertz understood so well. His experience with taxis, fleet operations, and customer flow gave the business an advantage in logistics and scale. That combination of rental inventory, location strategy, and branding helped the company evolve from a small Chicago operation into a national institution.
"The brand became bigger than the original shop, but the original shop is still the real starting point."
Common questions
Why the story matters
The company origin matters because it shows how corporate identity can shift over time: the business can start with one founder, change hands, and then become famous under another name. In Hertz's case, the brand story is not wrong, but it is incomplete unless Walter Jacobs is included. That fuller version is more accurate, more interesting, and better reflects how modern companies often evolve through acquisition rather than pure invention.
For search intent, the clean answer is simple: Hertz began as a Chicago car-rental business in 1918, founded by Walter L. Jacobs, then became the Hertz company after John Hertz bought it in 1923. The result is a classic American business origin story-part startup, part acquisition, and part brand-building.
Expert answers to Hertz Company Origin Story Isnt What You Think queries
Who actually founded Hertz?
Walter L. Jacobs founded the original car-rental business in 1918, while John Hertz bought it in 1923 and transformed it into the Hertz brand most people recognize today.
Why is it called Hertz if Jacobs started it?
It is called Hertz because John Hertz purchased the company and renamed it after himself, which is why the surviving brand name reflects the acquirer rather than the original founder.
When did Hertz become a major company?
Hertz became a major company during the 1930s and 1950s as it expanded airport rentals, international operations, and global location counts.
What was Hertz's first big innovation?
One of its most important early innovations was the airport rental location model, which made renting a car much easier for travelers arriving by air.