Vintage yellow taxis lining a rain-slick urban street by a warmly lit historic station at night.

John D. Hertz Biography: From Yellow Cabs to Car Rentals

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In 1923, John D. Hertz bought a small Chicago car-rental company and gave it his name. The company was already five years old. Its founder, Walter L. Jacobs, had started with about a dozen Ford Model T cars and would remain central to the business for decades.

Hertz, meanwhile, had made his reputation with yellow taxicabs that brought hired automobile travel to a wider public. The distinction between the man whose name appeared on the rental cars and the man who had started renting them is one of several important turns in a career that also reached into buses, manufacturing, finance, horse racing, and engineering education.

A Quick Look at the Life of John D. Hertz

Biography Summary

John Daniel Hertz (1879–1961) was an immigrant American transportation entrepreneur and financier who became a leading figure in Chicago’s Yellow Cab business. He acquired Walter Jacobs’s existing car-rental company in 1923, developed interests in manufacturing and motor coaches, and later became a partner at Lehman Brothers. He and his wife, Fannie, were involved in Thoroughbred racing and founded an engineering-education foundation.

Profile

Full Name: John Daniel Hertz; born Schandor Herz

Born: April 10, 1879

Birthplace: Sklabiňa, then Austria-Hungary (now Slovakia)

Died: 1961, aged 82

Spouse: Frances (“Fannie”) Kesner Hertz

Children: Leona, Helen, and John D. Jr.

Best Known For: Yellow Cab leadership and the 1923 acquisition of the car-rental business that became Hertz Driv-Ur-Self

Major Roles: Transportation entrepreneur; Lehman Brothers partner

Philanthropy: Co-founder of the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation

From Sklabiňa to Chicago

John D. Hertz was born Schandor Herz on April 10, 1879, in Sklabiňa, then part of Austria-Hungary and now in Slovakia. His parents, Katie and Jakob Herz, brought the family to Chicago when he was about five years old.

Before entering transportation, Hertz sold newspapers, worked in reporting and boxing-related activities, and sold automobiles. A 1935 profile described his time as a sports journalist and manager of prizefighters. The precise order of these early jobs is not fully documented, but his work selling cars became part of the story of his later taxi business.

On July 15, 1903, he married Frances Kesner, known as Fannie. They had three children: Leona, Helen, and John D. Jr. Fannie would eventually have a prominent place in the family’s racing and philanthropic activities in her own right.

Building a Taxi Service for a Wider Public

In early twentieth-century Chicago, traditional livery transportation was too expensive for many potential passengers. By 1915, the Yellow Cab enterprise associated with Hertz was serving a broader market with lower-priced hired rides.

The yellow cars were easy to pick out on the street. Hertz’s operation also expanded through franchises, extending the Yellow Cab name beyond its original Chicago setting. A preserved 1925 Yellow Cab taxicab at The Henry Ford shows the distinctive fleet appearance that became closely associated with the business.

A contemporary profile linked Hertz’s automobile-sales experience to a practice of turning traded-in cars into vehicles for hire. It also described cabs circulating on streets rather than waiting only at hotel stands. These were parts of his commercial approach to taxi service; the broader history of yellow taxis and street-hailing did not begin with him.

Even the company’s starting date needs a distinction. Later federal court findings trace an earlier Chicago Yellow organization to 1910, while Harvard Business School identifies 1915 as the pivotal year for the Yellow Cab venture associated with Hertz. The two dates describe different points in the organization’s development.

Walter Jacobs and the Rental Company Hertz Bought

While Hertz was developing his taxi interests, another young Chicago businessman was building a different way to use an automobile. Walter L. Jacobs started renting cars in September 1918 at the age of 22, with approximately twelve Ford Model T vehicles.

Hertz purchased Jacobs’s operating business in 1923 and renamed it the Hertz Driv-Ur-Self System. Jacobs stayed on as an executive, supplying the experience of the company’s original founder as it continued under a new name.

The purchase established an association that would endure through several later owners. Hertz supplied the name and his experience in transportation; Jacobs remained a crucial figure in running the rental operation.

From Taxis to Manufacturing and Motor Coaches

Hertz’s transportation activities were no longer limited to hiring out individual cars. Yellow-related companies made vehicles as well as operated them, and his interests extended into buses and motor coaches. Those different lines of business had distinct corporate identities.

In 1924, a contemporary report described Hertz’s Omnibus Corporation of America project in connection with Chicago Motor Coach and Fifth Avenue Coach. Passenger transport on a larger scale had become another part of his business career.

In 1925, Yellow Cab Manufacturing Company was sold to General Motors. Under GM, that manufacturing concern concentrated chiefly on buses and trucks. The transaction concerned the manufacturer, rather than the entire network of Chicago Yellow Cab operating companies.

Another ownership change followed in 1926, when General Motors acquired the Hertz Driv-Ur-Self rental business as part of a transaction involving related Yellow Truck interests. The car-rental company kept the Hertz name during its years under GM ownership.

The Taxi Wars and a Departure in 1929

Chicago’s taxi market was fiercely contested. Competition between Yellow and Checker interests included threats, attacks, and destruction, according to accounts of the period. The violence formed the backdrop to another change in Hertz’s business life, although the available evidence does not establish that he directed those attacks.

In January 1929, TIME reported that Hertz had resigned as president and chairman of Chicago Yellow Cab Company and sold his holdings to Charles A. McCullough of Parmelee Transfer. The report also described his offer of one block of 7,000 shares to long-serving employees and another block of 7,000 shares on deferred-payment terms.

Hertz was quoted as saying, “It is going to feel good to shake off these cares.” The same report described a destructive fire involving his horses. Neither the perpetrator nor the fire’s precise bearing on Hertz’s decision to leave was established in the evidence retained for this account.

The reorganization did not end with his resignation. A new Parmelee Transportation Company was organized in April 1929 and acquired interests in several transport businesses. A later federal court account found that Morris Markin did not control Parmelee when it was formed. Checker Cab Manufacturing acquired a majority interest in Parmelee in 1930.

In other words, the 1925 sale of the manufacturing company, the 1929 sale of Hertz’s Chicago taxi holdings, and Checker’s later control of Parmelee were separate developments. What looked like retirement from the cab business turned out to be another change of direction.

From Transportation to Lehman Brothers

Hertz’s next documented roles were in finance. A 1935 profile placed him in financial management at Paramount-Publix beginning in 1931 and reported that he left in 1933. In January 1934, he became a partner at Lehman Brothers.

That move gave him a substantial career beyond the transportation companies for which he was best known. The man associated with highly visible yellow taxis now worked in corporate finance, even as the rental business bearing his name continued under General Motors ownership.

Reigh Count, Count Fleet, and Fannie’s Role in Racing

Business was only part of the family’s public life. John and Fannie Hertz also participated in Thoroughbred breeding and racing. Their horse Reigh Count won the Kentucky Derby in 1928, while Hertz was still involved in Chicago’s taxi enterprise.

Reigh Count later sired Count Fleet, a colt whose early behavior made him difficult to manage. According to a National Museum of Racing account, John tried to find a buyer at $4,500. The horse remained in the family’s racing story and went on to win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes in 1943.

Trainer Don Cameron and jockey Johnny Longden were among the people behind Count Fleet’s Triple Crown season. After an ankle injury around the Belmont, Count Fleet retired from racing and later became a successful sire.

Fannie’s role was more than that of a supportive spouse. The National Museum of Racing identifies Fannie Hertz as Count Fleet’s officially registered breeder and owner. John took part in decisions about the horses, but the formal racing record places ownership of this champion with Fannie.

Omnibus Acquires the Hertz Rental Business

The rental operation continued developing new services under General Motors. In 1932, the Hertz-branded company established a rental facility at Chicago Midway and introduced a fly/drive program. A surviving 1932 rental brochure at The Henry Ford records the business’s rent-and-drive offering. Jacobs remained involved in its operations.

In 1953, Omnibus Corporation acquired the Hertz car-rental interests from General Motors and began moving away from its bus activities to focus on car and truck rental and leasing. An industry history identifies John Hertz as Omnibus’s honorary chairman at that time, although the title alone does not establish that he personally negotiated the purchase.

The reorganized enterprise became The Hertz Corporation in 1954 and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The same year, it acquired Metropolitan Distributors, an established truck-leasing firm. These were developments in the corporation’s business, rather than decisions that can all be attributed to Hertz individually.

Jacobs continued as president until his retirement in 1960. By then, the rental company had passed through Hertz’s original acquisition, GM ownership, and the Omnibus reorganization, with its founder still occupying an important leadership role.

An Engineering Foundation Before Sputnik

In September 1957, Hertz announced a new undertaking, this time centered on engineering education. On September 20, his plan for a scholarship fund became public. He and Fannie established what became the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation, with early directors including Edward Teller and Robert Lehman.

Explaining his decision to reporters, Hertz said, “I had for some years been looking for a way to show my gratitude and love for America.” He also spoke of concern about the supply of engineers in the United States compared with the Soviet Union. Those concerns were part of his stated reasoning, rather than independently verified measurements of either country’s engineering output.

The September 20 announcement preceded the Soviet launch of Sputnik on October 4, 1957. The foundation’s original educational work included undergraduate engineering scholarships. Its first doctoral Hertz Fellowships were awarded in 1963, after John Hertz’s death.

A Name That Continued Beyond His Lifetime

John D. Hertz died in 1961 at the age of 82. Fannie died in 1963. Their joint commitment to engineering education and their family involvement in Thoroughbred racing extended the story beyond his familiar image as a taxi entrepreneur.

Hertz’s transportation legacy came from building a recognizable taxi enterprise for a broader market, investing across forms of passenger transport, and acquiring the business that would bear his name. Yet that name endured through the work of Jacobs and the decisions of later corporate owners as well. The foundation established with Fannie gave the Hertz name a second, distinct legacy in engineering education.

Timeline

Key milestones in John D. Hertz’s business career, family racing interests, and philanthropy.

Timeline.

April 10, 1879

Born Schandor Herz in Sklabiňa, Austria-Hungary (now Slovakia).

About 1884

Moves with his family to Chicago at approximately age five.

July 15, 1903

Marries Frances (“Fannie”) Kesner.

1915

The Yellow Cab service associated with Hertz is directed toward a wider Chicago market, with recognizable yellow cars and more accessible fares.

September 1918

Walter L. Jacobs starts a Chicago car-rental business with approximately a dozen Ford Model T cars.

1923

Hertz buys Jacobs’s rental business and adopts the Hertz Driv-Ur-Self name; Jacobs remains an executive.

1924

Contemporary reporting describes Hertz’s Omnibus Corporation of America project involving coach businesses.

1925–1926

General Motors buys Yellow Cab Manufacturing in 1925 and acquires the Hertz Driv-Ur-Self business in 1926.

1928–1929

Reigh Count wins the 1928 Kentucky Derby. In January 1929, Hertz resigns from Chicago Yellow Cab leadership and sells his holdings, according to contemporary reporting.

1931

Hertz begins work in financial management at Paramount-Publix.

1932

The GM-owned Hertz rental operation establishes a facility at Chicago Midway and introduces a fly/drive program.

1933–January 1934

Hertz leaves Paramount-Publix in 1933 and becomes a partner at Lehman Brothers in January 1934.

1943

Count Fleet wins the Triple Crown. Fannie Hertz is his registered breeder and owner.

1953–1954

Omnibus acquires the Hertz rental interests from GM in 1953; the reorganized company becomes The Hertz Corporation and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1954.

September 20, 1957

Hertz’s engineering scholarship initiative is announced, before the October 4 launch of Sputnik.

1961–1963

John Hertz dies in 1961; Fannie dies in 1963. The first doctoral Hertz Fellowships are awarded in 1963.

FAQs

Did John D. Hertz start the original Hertz car-rental business?

No. Walter L. Jacobs founded the car-rental operation in Chicago in 1918. Hertz bought it in 1923 and renamed it Hertz Driv-Ur-Self; Jacobs stayed with the company and served as president until retiring in 1960.

Why do 1925 and 1929 both appear in accounts of the Yellow Cab sale?

They concern different businesses. Yellow Cab Manufacturing Company was sold to General Motors in 1925. Hertz resigned from Chicago Yellow Cab Company’s leadership and sold his holdings in January 1929, followed by further Parmelee and Checker ownership changes.

Did Hertz sell his Chicago taxi holdings directly to Morris Markin?

The evidence is more complicated. TIME reported Charles A. McCullough of Parmelee Transfer as the buyer in January 1929. A later federal court account describes a broader reorganization, with Checker Cab Manufacturing taking majority control of Parmelee in 1930.

Was John or Fannie Hertz the owner of Count Fleet?

Fannie Hertz was the officially registered breeder and owner of Count Fleet, the 1943 Triple Crown winner. John also participated in the family’s racing decisions.

Was the Hertz Foundation founded in response to Sputnik’s launch?

No. John Hertz’s engineering scholarship plan was publicly announced on September 20, 1957, before Sputnik launched on October 4. Hertz described both gratitude to the United States and concerns about engineering education when explaining the initiative.

Interviews

John D. Hertz’s Remarks on Leaving the Taxi Business

A January 1929 TIME report includes Hertz’s own remarks about stepping away from Chicago Yellow Cab. It is a contemporary news account with reported quotations, rather than a complete verbatim interview.

Read the reported remarks in TIME

Hertz’s Remarks on Engineering Scholarships

The Hertz Foundation’s history reproduces remarks Hertz made to reporters when his scholarship plan was announced in 1957, offering a firsthand account of how he explained the gift.

Read the foundation history and reported remarks

Further Reading

Sources