Enterprise handed the CEO seat to a third-gen Taylor pre-COVID — then set records

In December 2019, Enterprise Holdings announced that Chrissy Taylor — granddaughter of founder Jack Taylor and daughter of longtime CEO Andy Taylor — would become CEO on January 1, 2020. She was only the fourth CEO in the company's 62-year history and the third generation of the family to hold the job, following outsider Pam Nicholson's six-year tenure.

Taylor was no ceremonial heir: she had joined through the Management Training Program at neighborhood rental branches and held 17 different positions, rising to president and chief operating officer before the board promoted her. The board cited her hands-on experience across every level of the company.

Eleven weeks into her tenure, COVID-19 collapsed global travel. Enterprise — owner of the Enterprise, National, and Alamo brands — sold down fleet, cut costs, and leaned on its neighborhood-rental and insurance-replacement business while airport demand vanished. The private, family-owned structure let it act for the long term without public-market pressure.

The recovery made the succession look prescient. Revenue hit a record $35 billion in fiscal 2023 across a 2.5-million-vehicle fleet and nearly 9,500 locations, then $38 billion in fiscal 2024 — with the company rebranded as Enterprise Mobility to reflect truck rental, fleet management, and car sales beyond its rental roots.

Revenue reached a record $35 billion in FY2023 and $38 billion in FY2024, up from about $26B pre-pandemic, across a 2.5M-vehicle fleet.

Seventeen roles over two decades meant the heir already knew every part of the operation when the crisis hit.

The family alternated family and non-family CEOs (Andy Taylor, Pam Nicholson, Chrissy Taylor), keeping the bar for the heir high.

Private ownership let Enterprise shrink fleet fast in 2020 and rebuild without answering to public markets.

Diversified lines — insurance replacement, truck rental, fleet management — carried revenue while airport travel was shut.

Groom an heir through the whole business before the handover — a successor who has held 17 jobs needs no honeymoon, even in a crisis that grounds your entire industry.

Chrissy Taylor remains president and CEO of what is now Enterprise Mobility, one of America's largest private companies. FY2024 revenue of $38 billion set another record, and the Taylor family — with Andy Taylor as executive chairman — has kept full private ownership into its third generation while competitors Avis Budget and Hertz answer to public shareholders.