How Hertz's Bankruptcy Could Have Been Avoided

The short version of Hertz’s bankruptcy goes something like this: global pandemic obliterates business travel, forcing iconic 102-year-old company to seek court protection from creditors. The long version, however, is a cautionary tale about what can happen when a company places the interests of shareholders ahead of customers.
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The Breakdown showcases rise-and-fall stories from the modern business world, told through the lens of Bloomberg reporting. Episodes look at what contributed to not only the success of a business or organization, but also the turning point at which the fall began. Prior stories covered include the NRA, Hertz, WeWork, Boeing, Kodack and many more. See the full series: • The Breakdown
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[@andrewstupak6668]

Hertz is like a microcosm of the US. Debt-fueled short-term profit over long-term stakeholder value.

[@jona_archi]

@@MrAudirs8 some countries like the scandinavian ones actually don't have debt but rather have money invested by the government this way they don't have to pay interest each yeaf with taxpayer's money but rather get money each year from the shares so they can lower the taxtes

[@NextLevelTech]

@@jona_archi tell me more, which Scandinavian countries, id like to see their housing options lol

[@ShidaiTaino]

@@MrAudirs8 why should anyone listen to you?

[@ShidaiTaino]

@@NextLevelTech that’s what you care about? Housing?

[@michelfortier9563]

You're right! I was at Hertz in mid-management when Ford sold us out. It went downhill from there.

[@KnowArt]

note to self: remember that it's hard to go bankrupt if you have little to no debt

[@zzz181085]

Lmao ikr

[@bodyloverz30]

Another public company, loaded with debt, sent to bankruptcy, yet bonuses for private equity.

[@ibmtpx24]

Lots of people simply don't understand leveraging debt exposes themselves to the risk of going belly up. They think things will go according to plan. They are wrong.

[@TheAechBomb]

debt == risk this is why I almost always operate on a zero-debt basis

[@membear]

Not true, a lot of restaurants are going bankrupt because of Covid, even the ones who were not in debt.

[@artistny0000]

The customer service was horrific. They have ripped off many customers through deceptive practices. They deserve to go under. To succeed you must treat your customers fairly or they will go elsewhere. As I have.

[@ztuzar163]

hey don't bully! bullying Hertz !

[@redwater4778]

Did you crash your rental?

[@artistny0000]

@@redwater4778 no. They tried to change me $120 for $2 toll.

[@prabhjotbrar4524]

Nobody has strategy to charge customer for no reason. Stop being Karen. You are a pathetic customer.

[@daddydoodoo9089]

Bullshit..Examples please instead of blanket slamming the company. Crashed car did ya? Credit card declined again perhaps? Do tell us your specific issues with hertz. 🦗

[@kevinb2469]

In any major bankruptcy story you'll usually find a private equity firm that plays financial games and saddling their corp with debt to funnel money.

[@sunsetlights100]

Always a challenge to get honest financial advice

[@Summitclym]

Yup. See Washington Mutual 2004-2008. Classic case.

[@ericwsmith7722]

And all they have to do is keep the company afloat long enough to get away with the money

[@pdales2257]

Think of Mitt Romney. These private equity companies need to be put out of business.

[@AN3MY]

@@pdales2257 I work for one. AMA. We had less defaults thus far than the general market and created over 8000 new jobs. Dont throw everyone into one pot... The times of crazy leverage are long gone. Main return driver today is actual growth and multiple arbitrage by buying and building.

[@harrisbadalandabad6257]

I rented a Hertz car earlier this year. Someone slipped on ice and crashed into me. He got a ticket, the insurance paid for it. You know what’s happening? Hertz is trying to make me pay for the accident that I wasn’t responsible and has already been paid for. They keep asking for 1000 dollars, number they pulled out their ass. There’s no legal action because they know they’ll lose.

Hmmm. Based on your profile...I’d stereotype you as well. 🤔 🧐 🤨

[@nickolasb3642]

@@mattk8810 if its not his fault the other party pays deductible....

[@nayminoo]

Back in my college days around 2010, I always chose to rent from Hertz rather than Enterprise because Hertz always took care of me as a customer. In 2017 when I went back to the States, I reserved a car from Hertz office in Rosslyn, DC. The service was horrible. They didn’t have the car for me at that office and I had to wait for 3 hours in vain and ended up having to travel to Reagan Airport to pick up a car there. And when I returned the car in San Jose CA, they were making a big deal out of a cracked windshield which my insurance already covered. It was sad to see a great brand doing down.

[@psychiatry-is-eugenics]

Rented a car on the east coast ; drove across the country to San Jose , returned with a cracked windshield . What did that cost ?

[@nayminoo]

@@psychiatry-is-eugenics 825 USD for 14-day rental including liability insurance. I bought additional car insurance for 25$ from American Express just to be really safe. So in total, about 850$ for rental and insurance.

[@ScottyBrunton]

I'm glad they went out of business they really screwed me. They left me and my girlfriend stranded in the rain in New England. It took three hours for them to find me. I swore I would never rent another hertz car and I didn't. I drove as much business from them as possible by Word of mouth. If a friend needed to rent a car I told them do not rent from Hertz and told them my story!

[@Dr.Kananga]

Here in Italy Hertz's fleet is shabby and expensive, their offer is lackluster pushing you immediately to other competitors.

[@ElectricBikeConcussion]

I bought a used hertz car a couple years ago that actually had 7k miles less on the odometer then was advertised. They sure didn’t care about details either.

[@TempleGuitars]

No- the short version is: You rent a car and return it in exactly the same condition, and they try to stitch you up for every made up charge they can imagine. All over the world. For decades. Word got around.

[@Jojohumf]

Went on holiday and they asked for a 1.6K deposit which I of course refused to pay. For that very reason

[@trippsmclovin]

Sure thing, Capitalism at work. Plus before they filed for Bankruptcy they tried to sell their cars/fleets for way over book value. My friend was considering buying some Vans from them. He spent 100,000 less on the same amount of vehicles going thru a fleet dealer and they were all brand new. Absolutely hilarious.

[@UltraGamma25]

@@trippsmclovin Greed is not capitalism you idiot. Greed is greed. Without capitalism we wouldn't have rideshare.

[@bigmac22ify]

@@UltraGamma25 rideshare is a horrible example

[@Savage_Viking]

Hertz with OJ's help was just killing it. Sad to see their demise. But that's what Business Degree's teach, maximize profit for the shareholder over all else.

[@videomanx7054]

why do all these bloomberg videos have infuriating background noises of bugs or static that makes you wanna explode

[@KeenJT]

that was the dude sitting on his porch lol

[@BWAcolyte]

Something about people renting cars back in the 1920s seems so strange. Like you could get off an airplane and head into Hertz like it was the 2010's except it was 50+ years ago. Crazy...

[@cofishfinder7269]

Right? What would stop people from just never returning those cars in a time when there wasn’t zero connectivity and no means to track people down or communicate the theft abroad?

[@abuferasabdullah]

Excellent reporting guys 👏🏼👏🏼

[@sergioc.6431]

R.I.P. Hertz

[@20_percent]

If you’re going through rough times, please don’t give up. Better times are coming ❤️

[@theseedoflife3057]

Thank you

[@RainTheUpriser]

Thanks so much I needed this

[@Petrzmolik]

Tell that to Hertz lmao.

[@Tusk_Tact]

I would but it Hertz

[@20_percent]

@@Tusk_Tact lol

[@jokeassasin7733]

The only thing I regret about Hertz was not buy one of the 2019 Corvette Z06s they fire sold for the cost of a base Corvette.

[@hacker010010101]

Thank you Bloomberg. These constant uploads are fuckign awesome

[@guegorilla537]

lmao that username

[@Mike__G]

No surprise to me. I have rented from a number of companies over the years. The only one that ever screwed me over was Hertz. And one of their subsidiaries - Thrifty - did it again (didn’t realize it was a subsidiary until dealing with their reps). You just can’t keep cheating customers and get away with it.

[@nobody.123]

Your spin on the late CEO was laughable. She has a tremendous amount of responsibility given the amount of spending on assets that have only created diminishing returns.

[@michelfortier9563]

The real start of the decline was when Ford sold Hertz to private equity. Then Mark Frissora came in and things went downhill quick. I know, I was there during that time in a mid-level management position. Private Equity buying your Company usually does not bode well....

[@patmat.]

That's what I thought watching the clip, thx for sharing/confirming

[@jamesalexander7540]

A rather well told cautionary tale that we all need to know and head.

[@seans9149]

Anytime you put profits before the service, this what you get the Hertz story. Also, most business travelers are not renting cars anymore due to uber and other car services. I stopped rent a car for my travels in 2016; instead, we went all out with uber and others. Unfortunately, hertz will not be tthe only story alone in the next three years.

[@trent5098]

Sounds like this whole thing could have been avoided by hiring a single coder to code an API for the two softwares.

[@aakashv7730]

True lol

[@thunderb00m]

Or just have a competent in house software dev team from the start

[@hall1h]

You had me at leveraged buyout

[@GreenAppelPie]

After ford sold Hertz I started using them , I’ve always been happy with their service and their Toyotas.

[@benbauer7866]

Hopefully we’re not stuck with Enterprise and their BS fee for a one way drive.

[@sirshep4915]

Great video :)

[@marka565]

Private equity is the root of all evil. Putting debt on company while paying dividends to themselves destroy the company. This is just terrible.

[@patmat.]

Well I'm a satistified customer of Hertz, always got impeccable cars, returned them clean too, always had a flawless experience and great prices with them around the world. I hope they come out of it on top.

[@Dfm_Sushil]

Hoping more case study...like this.

[@Photographerindian]

Uber killed it simple. It destroyed Hertz's Business Model.

[@Chu3505]

Uber and Lyft didn’t killed Hertz.Hertz imploded by itself because of hiring to many bad CEOs in managements and carrying to much in deaths as times go by in years after years..

[@Petrzmolik]

It's like you haven't listened at all.

[@ai_robozen]

“How Hertz Bankruptcy Could Have Been Avoided” Not have OJ as a spokesperson.

[@largebiff1743]

I'm amazed that the government didn't bail them out. Oh yeah, they weren't a bank, just share holder greedy.

[@businessguide6219]

Awesome stuff! New subscriber here!

[@kadamalife5204]

Very nice

[@theheadlessstickman]

Interesting indeed

[@northatlantic2723]

well made short documentary

[@nathanielpillar8012]

This hurts...

[@maemae7063]

I think Bloomberg QuickTake should make video like this like CNBC.

[@BostonBlues]

I thankfully made like 2k off a options trade with them when they went from 1.00 to 1.30 before they eventually filed for bankruptcy and got de-listed

[@andrewkiminhwan]

fascinating

[@rashdaniel6693]

Save yourself the time and just know hertz had too much debt. Just like all the other companies that got bailed out in 2020 but hertz real issue was they didn't have any friends at the federal reserve.

[@SoCalFreelance]

Classic case study for MBA students to deconstruct and learn from.

[@SillySongswithKate]

I actually just did 2 months ago!

[@arvidschwerin7340]

I would have loved to hear about the Hertz vs. Accenture case!

[@josephrobichaud5198]

Anytime I needed a short time rental at an airport there rate was always way higher than any other company so I just passed on using them. I had to rent cars at Airports at least 20 times so they lost out every time.

[@francopetre6171]

Not buying cars for a year and everything else they mentioned isn't gonna take the company under, not one like hertz, what killed it is 100% the 13 billion dollar debt in the leveraged buy out

[@cleofaspintolimalima1627]

More one,thanks so much per subtitles English thanks so much

[@nevarran]

And I bet their executives were making millions while the company was crashing down.

[@hankigoe8615]

it's called "creative accounting", a la Enron, lol

[@overhang88]

So in summary short termism by upper management (assuming because they were chasing fat bonuses) killed the Hertz

[@nemra1970]

Never heard of Hertz before

[@bheart64]

I got scammed by them once. Gave them a bad review and I'm sure lots more people did the same.

[@patw.6567]

I remember how all my fellow youngsters were buying up hertz stock as it was heading into bankruptcy

[@tenzindhondupofficial]

Perfect timing guys.

[@michaelochido3244]

Watching from Kenya.I just read the book "The Predators Ball.".Financial vultures like Carl Icahn do not" make companies better " ...but instead always strip the company of its most valuable parts,fires employees and sells the entities for a fat juicy profit ....!

[@gino14]

I was halfheartedly listening to this video while doing some work, when I hear the name Icahn. Karl Icahn. There. That right there is your problem.

[@walex1101]

History is not written in a vacuum

[@detorreonpla3424]

Thrifty was like Dollar General

[@verigute6171]

Asked for rent-a-car quote for a week compared to enterprise. Hertz is by far the worst customer service call I've been on in my entire life. Transferred to 4 different departments. Lied to by agents having a bad day. Swearing on the phone. Just a sad company.

[@shpluk]

i was like: hmm interesting oh insightful wow a teaching moment and then she says, and I'm paraphrasing: "program integration between companies is usually easy" yeah right, coz all the IT admins are eager to change and collaborate. What is she talking about, making things work together is basically all IT people are doing and it is hard and time consuming. If they wrong about that what else are they wrong about?

[@Ben-fx9kx]

I think it's more saying if the companies are in the same sector than its relatively easier to integrate. Also I would completely agree IT is probably the worst department to integrate but that isn't true for every other sector

[@TGrizzly717]

They Robbed me for almost $3400 for a 1 day rental in Atlanta...I fought the charges and lost! Now I'M getting a lawyer! SMH

[@johnnyblaze9217]

You should have had a lawyer in the first place now you may have made it harder for yourself

[@theayeshaerotica]

I've never heard of Hertz before till now 😭

[@highandmightyqueen79]

they were really huge

[@matt2m]

Shareholder value can’t be everything

[@SoCalFreelance]

Private equity firm "strip and flip" schemes killing off classic 100 year old American business one at a time while enriching themselves.

[@risingson21]

@OBK - IT'S A DELUSIONAL WAY TO BE! KILLING THE GOOSE FOR SHORT TERM PROFIT *ALWAYS* CATCHES UP IN THE END!

[@tthompson2538]

Shareholder equity is everything for long term. No shareholders, no business.

[@matt2m]

@@tthompson2538 so why are there successful private businesses I just worked for a company that was over 2 billion a year privately owned.

[@seanbouker]

In other news, your local hertz is now an overpriced used car lot

[@treelife365]

Glad your title wasn't, "... could of..." 🤣

[@ztuzar163]

hey don't bully! bullying Hertz !

[@Perich29]

Hertz been hurt.

[@QuitworkBehappy]

Company had more thana debt problem. Companies that get like this lose their quality employees and what's left is quasi-criminal or incompetent. These guys stiffed me for a $20 Uber and called me a liar...I knew they were going to go out of business...before the pandemic hit.

[@christopherellis2663]

It hurts, to rent a car. In the end, gullibility kills

[@trinelarson6655]

Uber ,Hertz didn't adapted quickly enough,Uber is the future

[@edwardwood6532]

Based on the fact that cars depreciate so much on their first year, wouldn't shifting that period to two years make sense?

[@Petrzmolik]

Not if most of your customers switch to other rentals that have newer fleets.

[@edwardwood6532]

@@Petrzmolik Shows you how much I know about the car rental business. I am applying consumer level logic that may not apply here.

[@Petrzmolik]

@@edwardwood6532 It's literally what happened tho lmao.

[@ericwsmith7722]

Were going to save Blue Star !!

[@AN3MY]

Anyone who invested into the secondary offering got properly fucked. And back then, WSB literally thought this was going to be the recovery of history... LOL

[@scottyler2903]

Serves them right, they charge customers an exorbitant amount of money for a small scratch on the car. Since then, I have not rent from Hertz for over three years.

[@TenshiHara]

Once rented with Hertz in Germany. Returned the car at Frankfurt Airport. 15 Minutes later, a Hertz employee was photographed speeding with that car. And of course, Hertz gave MY personal data to the police and tried to make me have to pay for their speeding employee. After sorting things out with the police and showing them evidence of returning the car prior to the photograph (I had the receipt after all), no nothing from Hertz. No “Sorry for the mixup,” no “Our bad. Please excuse.“ - Needless to say, I never rented with Hertz again after that.

[@ASAP_Kenny]

I bought em for $20 and now their $30 bruh let me sell em damn

[@johneclr5733]

euber and lift is taking over

[@SandyRiverBlue]

Investors are not going to hold it against them because consumers are not going to hold it against them (short-term memories). What they need to do is buckle in, pay off their remaining outstanding debts, and focus on the middle and upper-middle of the car rental market. Do that for a couple of years and you can start making the kind of profits needed to raise your stock prices. I mean right now, their financials are a nightmare, but I see hope over the long-term horizon. I would buy, I mean they're at $8 right now, even if I were wrong about this and I don't think I am, small investment-huge potential.

[@MUSTKE4TC]

No respect for customers ot their opinions. Their executive customer service have no avtive listening skills. Cuxtomer servixe vice president Lsura smith could care less. And bad managers are bunch Of inexperienced amataurs with no guidance.

[@virx7944]

As a classic meme with a cat in it would point out. Moarrrrrrrr! I want moarrrrr of this content Bloomberg ! Thx. Yours sincerely, Neighborhood friendly orange kitten

[@2bahadur]

lesson learn from the mistake . i truly believe this company will emerge from the bankruptcy.

[@ibmtpx24]

I would say 90% of companies which eventually go bankrupt are because they ignore risks.

[@ivanbarbosa81]

A case study of bad management

[@V3racious3]

More like Bloomberg Mistake, you missed the elephant in the room: Hertz failed "digital transformation" with the pending lawsuit against Accenture.

[@bengaltiger96]

Ha! I remember when I worked at Accenture for a brief spell, and we switched from Hertz to Avis because of this.

[@hillaryclinton2415]

Hertz in many locations hired people of a certain type and attitude. Plus double the price of equally bad companies.. and don't get me started on trying to bill for every little imagined fault. Or in my case, a fault that they tried to charge me weeks later for. That my photographic evidence refuted.

[@Tina-di4lx]

Over promising and under delivering . . . . Hmmm 🤔

[@coinparadise]

Really? I loved hertz

[@eddiebeamz]

In all seriousness I could save Hertz in a heartbeat. But they’d have to pivot as a company.. I’ve noticed what worked when our parent were around doesn’t work any longer, companies need to evolve into the space of problem solving instead of just being ALL about money.

[@landopeezy2382]

Why wouldn't you negotiate how and where you got your cars in the contract when buying Hertz....

[@petermykichuk3714]

What is so sad they go bankrupt pay executive millions pay 10 cents on the dollar to get out of bankruptcy and open up again by changing the name just a little bit. Eg maybe from hertz rental to hertz car rental

[@vespers119]

Rented a car for burning man. Returned it at night so it was harder to see all the dust. Also the dust sanded off some of the paint so i colored it back in with a marker. I don't feel bad because i forgot my ipod in the seat and they wanted $130 to ship it back to me. Fuck off.

[@firexl007]

It Hertz to be hurt 🤕.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@Ethaara]

Nobody will cry for Hertz in europe, thats for sure.

[@marcelc2820]

Sounds like a child reading adult words for the very first time. 13:39

[@Joshtapus]

Now word is theyre selling donuts, would anybody like one? 🍩

[@frankfacts6207]

The Hertz spokesman kinda put a damper on things after cutting off the heads of two defenseless human beings, and, then taking up armed robbery

[@Master-ls2op]

Hertz was Founded in 1954.... 2020 -1954 = 66 years old... not hundred of years....

[@jona_archi]

used car prices skyrocketed with the pandemic, why didn't they sell their old cars when the prices were up?

[@jime19911]

They did. But they had such a large fleet to liquidate it flooded the marked and lowered prices. They were also selling below market value to get rid of them quick

[@johniii8147]

Actually in most cases used car prices went down

[@ingvarhallstrom2306]

They were doomed when they borrowed money to pay dividends, you never take out a loan for consumption.