Budget Rent a Car System, Inc. is an American

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 t ...

company that was founded in 1958 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California by Morris Mirkin. Budget is a subsidiary of the

Avis Budget Group Avis Budget Group, Inc. is an American car rental agency holding company headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey. It is the parent company of several brands including Avis Car Rental, Budget Rent a Car, Budget Truck Rental, Payless Car Rental ...

, with its operations headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey.

History

With its original fleet of 10 cars, the company lived up to the 'Budget' name by undercutting the daily and per mile rental rates of the established airport based car rental companies. Mirkin was joined in 1959 by Julius Lederer and together, they built the company internationally. In 1960, the headquarters moved to

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and the rental fleet expanded with franchised and wholly owned rental outlets. The company was eventually acquired by

Transamerica Corporation Transamerica Corporation is an American holding company for various life insurance companies and investment firms operating primarily in the United States, offering life and supplemental health insurance, investments, and retirement services. The ...

, and then sold in 1986 in a

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is the acquisition of a company using a significant proportion of borrowed money (Leverage (finance), leverage) to fund the acquisition with the remainder of the purchase price funded with private equity. The assets of t ...

by Gibbons, Green and van Amerongen Ltd., along with management (led by CEO Clifton E. Haley) and selected investors. The company made its first public stock offering in 1987. Team Rental Group purchased the public company in 1997 and took the name Budget Group. In 2002, Budget filed for bankruptcy and was later sold to the

Cendant Cendant Corporation was an American provider of business and consumer services, primarily within the real estate and travel industries. In 2005 and 2006, it broke up and spun off or sold its constituent businesses. Although it was based in New Yo ...

Corporation, which also owned Avis. In September 2006, Cendant Corporation separated into four independent companies. The real estate division became Realogy, Inc., its hospitality services division became

Wyndham Worldwide Travel + Leisure Co. (formerly Wyndham Destinations, Inc., and Wyndham Worldwide Corporation) is an American timeshare company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. It develops, sells, and manages timeshare properties under several vacation owners ...

, and the travel distribution services division became Travelport, Inc., an affiliate of The

Blackstone Group Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. It was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions firm by Peter Peterson and Stephen Schwarzman, who had previously worked together at Lehman ...

. In 2006, following the Travelport sale, Cendant, now composed solely of its vehicle rental services businesses, renamed itself

Locations

Worldwide, as of 2019, 2,275 locations are company owned, and 1,650 are licensees; 1,925 offices are located in the Americas, and 2,000 are located internationally.

Celebrity spokespersons

Beginning in April 2011, television actress

Wendie Malick Wendie Malick (born December 13, 1950) is an American actress and former fashion model, known for her roles in various television comedies. She starred as Judith Tupper Stone in the HBO sitcom '' Dream On'' and as Nina Van Horn in the NBC sitco ...

of ''

Hot in Cleveland ''Hot in Cleveland'' is an American television sitcom aired on TV Land and starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick, and Betty White. The series, which was TV Land's first original series, premiered on June 16, 2010, and was ...

'' became the spokesperson in a series of television and online ads that offer special, limited-time, discount offers.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1958 establishments in California 1980s initial public offerings 2002 mergers and acquisitions American companies established in 1958 Avis Budget Group Car rental companies of the United States Franchises Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2002 Retail companies established in 1958 Transport companies established in 1958

History

Locations

Celebrity spokespersons

See also

References

External links