Hertz shakeup: CEO steps down, fmr. Delta Air exec to take helm

Julie Hyman and Josh Lipton

Hertz Global (HTZ) announced CEO Stephen Scherr is stepping down from the role and that former Delta Air Lines (DAL) executive Gil West will take his place. The move will go into effect on April 1, with Scherr assisting West in transitioning into the role. The move comes shortly after the company stumbled on its big bet on electric vehicles.

Yahoo Finance's Julie Hyman and Josh Lipton discuss the breaking news in the video above.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

Editor's note: This article was written by Stephanie Mikulich.

Video transcript

[AUDIO LOGO]

JULIE HYMAN: Hertz, the auto rental company, shaking up its c-suite, naming Gil West as chief executive officer, as Stephen Scherr steps down as CEO. West, the former chief operating officer of General Motors, General Motors Cruise robotaxi unit. The move coming after Hertz's bet on electric vehicles fizzled out here. He was also the chief operating officer, by the way, at Delta Airlines-- Gil West, that is. The shares down about 3% in after hours trading.

Remember, Hertz had been in bankruptcy. It exited in November of 2021 with Scherr at the helm. And then he really did dive into the purchase of electric vehicles from a number of different companies, including Tesla. But part of these car rental companies, businesses is resale of those used cars. And we have seen a big drop in prices for things like Teslas, and so that bet has not worked out well.

JOSH LIPTON: Yeah, Tesla well, they did make that big bet, as you said, Julie. Once Tesla decided that they were going to slash prices, Elon Musk made it clear he was more interested in volume than margins, they got nailed on it.

JULIE HYMAN: Yeah, exactly. I mentioned they exited bankruptcy in November 2021. At the time, the share offered $29 a share today. The shares closed at $7.58. So that gives you an idea of the collapse in the stock. So we'll keep watching it here, and see if we hear anything directly from Gil West about the strategy in the coming days.