Henry J. "Hank" Caruso (February 24, 1922 – November 26, 2017) was an American businessman. He was the founder of

Dollar Rent A Car Dollar Rent A Car (formerly known as Dollar A Day Rent A Car) is an American car rental agency, headquartered in Estero, Florida, with offices in many countries around the world. Dollar is owned by The Hertz Corporation, along with other agen ...

Early life

Of Italian heritage, Caruso was born in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. His father, August Caruso, worked in the landscape business and decided that the weather in the Mid-Atlantic was problematic and moved the family to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in the mid-1920s. They first moved to

East Los Angeles East Los Angeles ( es, Este de Los Ángeles), or East L.A., is an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 118,786, a drop of 6.1% from 2010, when it was 126,496. For statistical purpo ...

but soon settled in the

Silver Lake Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

neighborhood where Henry and his brothers, Albert and Lawrence, were raised. He enrolled at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

(USC) in 1939 with plans to study medicine, but left to join the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

Air Corp and earned the distinction of Navy Pilot

LTJG Lieutenant junior grade is a junior commissioned officer rank used in a number of navies. United States Lieutenant (junior grade), commonly abbreviated as LTJG or, historically, Lt. (j.g.) (as well as variants of both abbreviations), is ...

.Margret McNelis-Ahern
Dollar Rent-A-Car Systems Inc.: rental company tackles the globe
''

Los Angeles Business Journal The ''Los Angeles Business Journal'', established in 1979, is a weekly newspaper and online news source in Los Angeles, California, which provides coverage of local business news. According to the ''Journals website, it has a weekly print circul ...

'', February 5, 1990. He returned to USC after the war to finish his studies.Henry J. Caruso, Ellis Island Medals of Honor (2001 Recipient)
, NECO, Inc., ''Accessed January 14, 2008.''

Career

Caruso entered the automobile business by acquiring a number of new car dealerships, including from

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

and

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

. In the early days of TV he virtually monopolized commercial television airwaves in Los Angeles with his radio and TV singing commercials where he billed himself as "H.J. Caruso—he's the greatest."Stuart Heinemann
Caruso Finds Times Change!
''The Desert Sun'', January 5, 1973.Ed Leibowitz
"Will the Man Behind the Grove Remake the Rest of L.A. in His Own Image?"
''Los Angeles Magazine'', July 1, 2007. ''

The Desert Sun ''The Desert Sun'' is a local daily newspaper serving Palm Springs and the surrounding Coachella Valley in Southern California. History ''The Desert Sun'' is owned by Gannett publications since 1988 and acquired the Indio ''Daily News'' in 199 ...

'' called him the "glamour boy of automotive salesmanship in Los Angeles." He founded Dollar Rent-A-Car in 1966 as Dollar A Day Rent A Car.History of Dollar
Dollar Car Sales; accessed September 14, 2017. After opening five locations, he was determined to open lucrative airport locations; however the "big three" car rental companies,

Hertz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...

Avis Avis is Latin for bird and may refer to: Aviation *Auster Avis, a 1940s four-seat light aircraft developed from the Auster Autocrat (abandoned project) *Avro Avis, a two-seat biplane *Scottish Aeroplane Syndicate Avis, an early aircraft built by ...

and

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, had already established locations in airports and made it difficult for the new company to enter the market. This led to a legal fight in the 1970s that caused the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...

to take action and prohibit any practices that discriminated against small companies vying for airport locations.Margret McNelis-Ahern
Dollar Rent-A-Car Systems Inc.: rental company tackles the globe
''Los Angeles Business Journal'', February 5, 1990. Many airports, newspapers, and local townships rejected his request to display the "Dollar A Day" sign as they felt it constituted false advertising. In 1973, the

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land a ...

Planning Commission rejected Caruso's request for approval of a "Dollar A Day" sign as "misleading advertising." He later changed the name to Dollar Rent-A-Car. Under his 20 years of guidance it grew to be the fourth largest

car rental A car rental, hire car or car hire agency is a company that rents automobiles for short periods of time to the public, generally ranging from a few hours to a few weeks. It is often organized with numerous local branches (which allow a user to ...

agency worldwide with over 1,400 locations. He sold the company to the Chrysler Corporation in 1990 (it is now a part of the Dollar-Thrifty Automotive Group).Henry J. Caruso, Ellis Island Medals of Honor (2001 Recipient)
, NECO, Inc.; accessed January 14, 2008. Caruso was also the head of

Caruso Affiliated Caruso, formerly Caruso Affiliated Holdings, LLC, is one of the largest, privately held real estate companies in the United States. It was founded by Rick Caruso in 1987, with Corinne Verdery as its CEO since 2022. Caruso has a portfolio of retai ...

, which owned his car dealerships, and HJC Investment Corporation, an investment company.

Legal history

On April 25, 1957, Caruso was indicted by the

Grand Jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...

of Los Angeles County for criminal

conspiracy to defraud Conspiracy to defraud is an offence under the common law of England and Wales and Northern Ireland. England and Wales The standard definition of a conspiracy to defraud was provided by Lord Dilhorne in '' Scott v Metropolitan Police Commissioner'' ...

and cheat,

forgery Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...

, and

grand theft Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...

related to his automobile dealerships. Caruso pleaded guilty to two counts (forgery and grand theft) of the April 25 indictment. Caruso was given a suspended sentence. Probation was granted for a period of 10 years conditioned on his spending the first year in the county jail, paying a fine of $10,000 and remaining "out of the automobile business or any business involving sales to the public." In 1970, the Superior Court of California set aside the guilty plea. Having fulfilled the terms of his probation, he was allowed to withdraw his guilty plea and enter a plea of not guilty, and the charges against him were dismissed.Miles Beller
"A Higher Calling?"
''Los Angeles Times'', May 04, 2003.

Personal life

Caruso lived with his wife Gloria in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...

. He has one daughter, Cristina Caruso, and two sons,

Rick Caruso Rick Joseph Caruso (born January 7, 1959) is an American businessman. A billionaire, he is the founder and former chief executive officer of Caruso, an American real-estate company. He is the chair of the board of trustees at the University o ...

, a billionaire builder and retail operator and owner and CEO of

, which has built and owns and operates such retail properties as

The Grove at Farmers Market The Grove is a retail and entertainment complex in Los Angeles, located on parts of the historic Farmers Market. History The complex fills space previously occupied by an orchard and nursery, which were the last remains of a dairy farm owned ...

and

The Americana at Brand The Americana at Brand is a large shopping, dining, entertainment and residential complex in Glendale, California. The property was built and is owned and operated by Los Angeles businessman Rick J. Caruso and his company Caruso Affiliated. Caru ...

,Deborah Belgum
The Grove: latest example of Caruso's main street feel
''Los Angeles Business Journal'', March 25, 2002. and Marc Caruso, a Los Angeles music executive and CEO of Angry Mob Music.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caruso, Henry 1922 births 2017 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American investors American people of Italian descent American retail chief executives Businesspeople from Los Angeles Businesspeople from Pennsylvania Marshall School of Business alumni People from Beverly Hills, California University of Southern California alumni Caruso family United States Navy pilots of World War II United States Navy officers Military personnel from California