[4] The company filed for bankruptcy on May 22, 2020, citing a sharp decline in revenue and future bookings caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

[8] Hertz Global Holdings, originally known as Rent-a-Car Inc., was founded by Chicago, Illinois native Walter L. Jacobs in 1918.

[9] After three years of ownership, John Hertz sold the rental car brand to General Motors Corporation in 1926.

[11] During the General Motors ownership, the company had sold many local Hertz franchises to independent business entities.

[19] In the summer of 1987, Allegis Corporation chairman and president Frank Olson announced the company would be selling Hertz due to internal changes.

[30] In November 2012, Hertz Global Holdings Chairman and CEO Mark P. Frissora announced the company's purchase of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, a U.S.-based car rental brand with headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for US$2.3 billion.

[31] In December 2012, Hertz announced it would sell its Advantage Rent a Car unit to Franchise Services of North America and Macquarie Capital after the acquisition of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group was finalized.

[22] Relocation to Southwest Florida was influenced by the state's travel and tourism industry, proximity to Orlando and Miami, to condense corporate offices, and to increase efficiency of Hertz Global brands.

[33][34] John P. Tague replaced Frissora as chief executive officer and president of The Hertz Corporation in November 2014.

[35] Kathryn V. Marinello, former CEO of Stream Global Services, was appointed president and chief executive officer of The Hertz Corporation on January 2, 2017, following John Tague's retirement.

Stone previously served as Hertz's executive vice president and chief retail operations officer for North America.

[39] On October 5, 2021, Hertz announced it had named Mark Fields interim CEO and Paul Stone president and chief operations officer.

[41] As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, on April 30, 2020, Hertz announced that it had missed lease payments on its fleet and was seeking support from its lenders, including activist investor Carl Icahn, in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy.

Stone previously served as Hertz's executive vice president and chief retail operations officer for North America.

[43] On May 22, 2020, the Wall Street Journal reported that Hertz was preparing to file for bankruptcy because it did not reach an agreement with top lenders.

[47] The bankruptcy filing started a 60-day clock, during which Hertz's secured lenders must wait before they can foreclose on the 400,000 U.S. cars that were financed through such arrangements.

[47] Despite the bankruptcy filing, Hertz announced on June 11, 2020, that it was seeking to raise up to $1 billion in new equity (with disclaimers that there is a "risk that the common stock could ultimately be worthless").

Victims reported being jailed for months before being released, resulting in loss of licensure, professional credentials and employment while their falsely filed felonies languish through the system, depriving them of income and their rights.

[61] According to reports, 47 customers have filed lawsuits against Hertz for misreporting cars as stolen resulting in many false arrests and imprisonment.

[67] The Hertz rental car fleet has consisted of a variety of vehicle manufacturers, ranging from BYD, Mercedes, Infiniti, Cadillac, Land Rover, BMW, Porsche, Jaguar, Mazda, Volvo, Toyota, Jeep, and Lincoln, along with various others.

[69] In 1966, Hertz engaged racing and automotive designer Carroll Shelby to develop an exclusive version of his modified Ford Mustang.

[71] One thousand GT350H Mustangs were built as rental cars, although urban legend also maintains that many were missing original engines when returned.

[77] It launched a global carsharing service under the name Connect by Hertz in December 2008,[78] serving customers who paid a fee to rent cars by the hour in Park Ridge, New York, Orlando, London, Paris, and Sydney.

This was the first introduction of large-scale car rental kiosks in the United States that used a live agent through video chat.

[80][82] In the US vehicles within this group feature Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) highway fuel efficiency ratings of 28 miles per gallon-highway.

[89] In September 2022, Hertz unveiled a deal with General Motors to purchase up to 175,000 electric vehicles from Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac and BrightDrop over a period of 5 years.

[94] In January 2024, Hertz announced plans to sell a third of its EV fleet through outlets such as Auto Trader and EV.com, and to reinvest in petrol/gas-powered cars due to weak demand and high repair costs for its battery-powered vehicles.

Scherr also cited how often EVs were involved in accidents at higher rates than other cars, with consumers less experienced in operating them.

[108] One spot from the mid-1970s showed Simpson, at that point an American football player, running through an airport terminal, dressed in business attire, leaping over rows of seats to get to his Hertz rental car.

The ad campaign was highly successful for the first five years it was used, and helped to propel Simpson to get high-profile sponsorship deals with other companies.