Jack C. Taylor
| Jack C. Taylor | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Jack Crawford Taylor April 14, 1922 St. Louis, Missouri, US |
| Died | July 2, 2016 (aged 94) St. Louis, Missouri, US |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Washington University in St. Louis - Westminster College (Missouri) |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Net worth |
 US$8.6 billion (February 2016) |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Ann Taylor (divorced) |
| Children |
Andrew C. Taylor Jo Ann Taylor Kindle |
| Parent(s) | Melburne Martling Taylor Dorothy Crawford |
| Military career | |
| Service/branch | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1942–1945 |
| Rank | Lieutenant, USNR |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards |
Distinguished Flying Cross (2) Air Medal Presidential Unit Citation |
Jack Crawford Taylor (April 14, 1922 – July 2, 2016) was an American businessman and billionaire who founded the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company.
Taylor was the elder of two sons born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Melburne Martling Taylor and Dorothy Crawford Taylor. Taylor enrolled in the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis in 1940. He left school to join the U.S. Navy. During World War II, he piloted an F6F Hellcat fighter from the decks of the USS Essex (CV-9) and the USS Enterprise (CV-6) earning two Distinguished Flying Crosses and the Navy Air Medal.
After the war, he returned to St. Louis and started a delivery service company. In 1948, he took a job at the Lindburg Cadillac dealership where he eventually became a sales manager. In 1957, he started a car leasing business at the dealership in partnership with his employer, Arthur R. Lindburg, which required that he take a 50 percent pay cut and put up $25,000 for a 25% interest in the business. Targeting people whose cars were in the shop, the Executive Leasing Company began operation with a total of seven cars.
In 1969, Jack expanded outside Saint Louis and changed the name of the company to Enterprise (named after the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier upon which he had served in World War II). Unlike his competitors, who focused on business rentals at airports, Taylor concentrated on the hometown market offering home pickup services which led to Enterprise’s “We’ll Pick You Up” slogan. By 1980, the rental fleet had grown to 6,000 cars. In 1989, the fleet had grown to 50,000 and he changed the name of the company to Enterprise Rent-A-Car. By 1992, Enterprise surpassed $1 billion in revenues and by 1995, it reached $2 billion in revenues. In 2007, Enterprise purchased National Car Rental and Alamo Rent-A-Car. The current executive chairman is Taylor's son, Andrew C. Taylor.
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