Enterprise Holdings has announced that its CEO, Pamela M. Nicholson, will retire at the end of 2019 after a 38-year career with the company. Her successor will be named after a meeting of Enterprise Holdings’ board of directors in December, the company said.
Nicholson is only the third CEO in the privately held company’s more than 60-year history and the first to come from outside the Taylor family, which founded the company in St. Louis in 1957. She is not only the highest-ranking woman in the entire U.S. car rental industry, but also among the top female CEOs across all industries, Enterprise said.
Nicholson earned the CEO position in 2013 after being promoted to COO in 2003 and president in 2008. Since joining Enterprise as a management trainee, she has achieved growth and success in every facet of the operations she has led, Enterprise said, including leading two of the company’s largest regional subsidiaries in Southern California and New York.
Nicholson first joined Enterprise in 1981 after graduating from the University of Missouri. The company had just topped 50 locations, operated a rental fleet of about 5,000 vehicles and was generating some $80 million in revenue. Today Enterprise Holdings operates – through an integrated global network of independent regional subsidiaries and franchises – the Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car brands, as well as more than 10,000 fully staffed neighborhood and airport locations in 100 countries and territories. It is the largest car rental company in the world, as measured by revenue and fleet, and – with its affiliate Enterprise Fleet Management – operates more than 2 million vehicles throughout the world. The company accounted for $25.9 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2019.
Nicholson is a global member of the World Travel and Tourism Council, The Business Council and serves on the board of directors of Hyatt Hotels Corporation. A devoted dog lover, she is a major supporter of the Humane Society of Missouri, as well as a generous benefactor to a number of social causes in the St. Louis area.
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