Brief Introduction of Jack Taylor
Jack Crawford Taylor (1922-2016) was a highly decorated American war veteran, a visionary entrepreneur, and a dedicated philanthropist, best known as the founder of Enterprise Rent-A-Car. A member of the “Greatest Generation,” Taylor served as a U.S. Navy fighter pilot during World War II, an experience that profoundly shaped his values and business philosophy. After the war, he ventured into the automobile industry, eventually establishing a small car leasing business in 1957 with just seven vehicles. This modest beginning evolved into Enterprise Holdings, the world’s largest car rental provider, which includes the Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental, and Alamo Rent A Car brands. Taylor revolutionized the industry by focusing on the “home city” or replacement rental market, a segment largely ignored by competitors who concentrated on airports. His guiding principle, “Take care of your customers and employees first, and the profits will follow,” became the cornerstone of his company’s celebrated culture and success.
Jack Taylor Overview
| Full Name | Jack Crawford Taylor |
| Date of Birth | April 14, 1922 |
| Age(as of 2025) | Died at age 94 on July 2, 2016 |
| Birthplace | St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Profession | Businessman, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist |
| Husband/Wife | Was married to Mary Ann MacCarthy (1945-1977) and Susan Orrison (1979-2008). Both marriages ended in divorce. |
| Family | Parents: Melburne Martling Taylor and Dorothy Crawford Taylor. Children: Andrew C. Taylor and Jo Ann Taylor Kindle. |
| Relationship/Affairs(GF/BF) | Not applicable. |
| Net Worth | Estimated at $5.3 billion at the time of his passing in 2016. |
Early Life and Education of Jack Taylor
Jack Crawford Taylor was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 14, 1922, the elder of two sons to Melburne Martling Taylor and Dorothy Crawford Taylor. He grew up in the St. Louis suburb of Clayton and graduated from Clayton High School. By his own admission, Taylor was not a dedicated student in his youth and was unsure of his future career path. In 1940, he enrolled at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis. He also briefly attended Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. His university education was cut short by the pivotal events of World War II. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Taylor left his studies in 1942 to enlist in the United States Navy, eager to serve his country. He once quipped that the war had “saved me from further educational activities,” a testament to the profound and unexpected direction his life would take.
Jack Taylor’s Career
Jack Taylor’s remarkable career began not in a boardroom, but in the cockpit of an F6F Hellcat fighter plane. During World War II, he served as a U.S. Navy pilot in the Pacific Theater, flying from the decks of the aircraft carriers USS Essex and USS Enterprise (CV-6). He was part of the highly decorated Carrier Air Group 15, serving as a wingman on several combat missions and earning two Distinguished Flying Crosses and the Navy Air Medal for his bravery. This experience instilled in him a sense of discipline, teamwork, and resilience that would define his future business endeavors. After the war, he returned to St. Louis and took on various jobs, including starting a package delivery business. In 1948, he found his footing in the automobile industry, taking a sales position at Lindburg Cadillac. His ambition and keen business sense led to his promotion to sales manager.
The true genesis of his business empire came in 1957. Taylor identified a niche market for leasing automobiles and convinced his employer, Arthur Lindburg, to partner with him. To launch the venture, known as Executive Leasing Company, Taylor took a 50% pay cut and invested $25,000 for a 25% stake in the business. Operating from the lower level of the Cadillac dealership, the company began with a modest fleet of just seven cars. Taylor’s initial focus was on leasing, but he soon recognized another unmet need: providing rental cars to customers whose own vehicles were in the shop for repairs. This led him into the rental business in 1962 with an initial fleet of 17 cars.
While competitors focused almost exclusively on the airport travel market, Taylor pioneered the “home city” rental market, serving customers directly in their own neighborhoods. This innovative strategy became the company’s cornerstone. In 1969, as the business expanded beyond St. Louis, Taylor renamed the company “Enterprise” in honor of the aircraft carrier on which he had so proudly served. The company’s growth was steady and deliberate. A manager in Florida began offering to pick customers up and bring them to the rental office, which evolved into the company’s famous “We’ll Pick You Up” slogan, further cementing its reputation for exceptional customer service. By 1980, the fleet had grown to 6,000 cars. In 1989, the company was renamed Enterprise Rent-A-Car to reflect its primary business, and its fleet surpassed 50,000 vehicles. The company’s revenues hit $1 billion by 1992 and $2 billion by 1995. Taylor served as CEO until 1991, when his son, Andrew C. Taylor, took over, and he retired as executive chairman in 2013. Under his family’s continued leadership, the company, now Enterprise Holdings Inc., acquired National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car in 2007, solidifying its status as the world’s largest rental car provider.
Jack Taylor Personal Life & Family
Jack Taylor’s family was central to both his personal life and his business. He was married and divorced twice. In 1945, he married Mary Ann MacCarthy, and together they had two children: a son, Andrew “Andy” C. Taylor, and a daughter, Jo Ann Taylor Kindle. Both of his children would go on to play pivotal roles in the family business and its philanthropic endeavors. Andy Taylor succeeded his father as CEO and later became the executive chairman of Enterprise Holdings. Jo Ann Taylor Kindle became the president of the Enterprise Holdings Foundation. Jack and Mary Ann’s marriage ended in divorce in 1977 after a long separation. In 1979, Taylor married Susan Orrison; they divorced in 2008.
Despite the end of his first marriage, he and Mary Ann remained devoted to their family. At the time of his passing, Taylor was survived by his two children, five granddaughters, and several great-grandchildren, a testament to the strong family bonds he cultivated. The Taylor family has remained deeply rooted in St. Louis for generations, a commitment reflected in their extensive community involvement and philanthropy. The business itself was operated as a family enterprise, with Jack’s late brother, Paul, having served as a vice president. This familial approach extended to his employees, whom he treated with respect and loyalty, fostering a work environment that valued hard work and collaboration.
Awards and Achievements of Jack Taylor
- Two Distinguished Flying Crosses (U.S. Navy, World War II)
- Navy Air Medal (U.S. Navy, World War II)
- Presidential Unit Citation (as part of Carrier Air Group 15)
- Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (1997)
- Citizen of the Year Award from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (2002)
- Boeing Corporate Citizenship Award from the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association (2005)
- St. Louis Award (2007)
- Ranked No. 11 on The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s “Philanthropy 50” list of America’s top donors (2015)
- Posthumously honored with the naming of the Jack C. Taylor Conference Center at the United States Naval Institute in Annapolis (2021)
Jack Taylor Net Worth and Income
Jack Taylor’s immense success as the founder of Enterprise translated into substantial personal wealth. At the time of his death in 2016, Forbes magazine estimated his and his family’s net worth to be approximately $5.3 to $5.8 billion. This placed him among the wealthiest individuals in the United States and on the Forbes list of world billionaires. His fortune was derived almost entirely from his ownership stake in the privately held Enterprise Holdings Inc., which he and his family controlled. The company’s profits are not publicly disclosed, but in 2015, the year before his passing, Enterprise Holdings reported $19.4 billion in revenue. Taylor’s income was a result of the consistent and explosive growth of the company he founded from scratch, transforming a seven-car operation into a global mobility leader with over 1.7 million vehicles. Rather than hoarding his wealth, Taylor became one of the nation’s most generous philanthropists in his later life.
Legacy and Influence
Jack Taylor’s legacy is multifaceted, spanning business innovation, corporate culture, and profound philanthropy. His most significant business contribution was the creation and development of the “home city” car rental market. By recognizing a need that his larger, airport-focused competitors had overlooked, he fundamentally changed the landscape of the car rental industry. His business philosophy, “Take care of your customers and employees first, and profits will follow,” has been widely cited as a model for sustainable, service-oriented success. This principle fostered a company culture renowned for its customer loyalty and employee development, with many leaders, including a former CEO, rising through the ranks from entry-level positions.
Beyond the business world, Taylor’s influence is deeply felt through his extensive philanthropic work. He and his family have donated over a billion dollars to a wide array of causes. His giving was particularly focused on his beloved hometown of St. Louis, where he supported institutions like the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Missouri Botanical Garden, and Washington University in St. Louis. Through the Crawford Taylor Foundation and the Enterprise Holdings Foundation, his family continues this legacy of giving, supporting community development, education, and healthcare. His service as a member of the “Greatest Generation” remained a core part of his identity, and he made significant contributions to military and naval history organizations, ensuring that the legacy of his fellow service members would be preserved. His life story serves as an enduring example of how wartime values of integrity, hard work, and teamwork can be translated into monumental business success and community betterment.
Interesting Facts about Jack Taylor
- He named his company “Enterprise” after the USS Enterprise (CV-6), the decorated World War II aircraft carrier he served on as a pilot.
- He started his car leasing business with only seven cars in the basement of a Cadillac dealership.
- To launch his business in 1957, he had to take a 50 percent pay cut and put up $25,000 for a 25% stake.
- During World War II, he flew combat missions as the wingman for Commander David McCampbell, the U.S. Navy’s all-time top ace.
- He was initially an unenthusiastic student and joked that enlisting in the Navy for World War II “saved me from further educational activities.”
- The iconic “We’ll Pick You Up” slogan wasn’t a top-down marketing invention; it grew organically from a branch manager in Florida who started offering customers rides to the office.
- Despite building the world’s largest car rental company, Enterprise did not open its first on-airport rental location until 1995, nearly four decades after its founding.
Controversies
Jack Taylor maintained a reputation for high integrity throughout his career, and his personal life was not marked by major public controversies. The company he founded, Enterprise, faced legal action from competitors Hertz and Advantage in 1998 over alleged similarities in advertising slogans, specifically related to Enterprise’s trademarked phrase “We’ll pick you up.” However, this was a corporate legal dispute and did not involve personal controversy surrounding Taylor himself.
Social Media Presence
As Jack Taylor passed away in 2016 and conducted the majority of his business leadership before the rise of social media, he did not maintain any personal public social media profiles. The global brand he created maintains a significant presence:
- Instagram – Not applicable
- Twitter – Not applicable
- YouTube – Not applicable
Final Words about Jack Taylor
The story of Jack Taylor is a quintessential American success story, a narrative of a war hero who returned home to build an empire from the ground up. His life demonstrated a remarkable transition from the perilous skies of the Pacific to the competitive landscape of the automobile industry. He was a pioneer who saw opportunity where others did not, building a global leader by focusing on a simple, yet revolutionary, idea: serving the customer in their own neighborhood. His legacy is not just the ubiquitous Enterprise brand, but the culture of service and integrity he embedded within it. A devoted family man and an extraordinarily generous philanthropist, Taylor’s impact on his hometown of St. Louis and on countless charitable causes is immeasurable. He passed away in 2016 at the age of 94, leaving behind a company that continues to be family-led and guided by the enduring principles he learned as part of the “Greatest Generation.” Jack Taylor’s life serves as a powerful testament to the idea that true success is built not just on profits, but on a foundation of respect for customers, dedication to employees, and a commitment to giving back to the community.
