Brad Jacobs (businessman)

Jacobs was born in Providence, Rhode Island, the son of Charlotte Sybil (née Bander) (1929–2013) and Albert Jordan Jacobs (1927–2018).[4][5] His father was a fashion jewellery importer.[5] He graduated from Northfield Mount Hermon School and then went on to attend Bennington College and Brown University where he studied music and mathematics but dropped out in 1976 to take a job as an oil trader.[6][7]

Jacobs has created seven corporations, five of which are publicly traded: XPO Logistics and its spin-offs, GXO Logistics in 2021 and RXO in 2022; United Rentals; and United Waste Systems.[8]

In 1979,[9] Jacobs co-founded Amerex Oil Associates Inc., an oil brokerage firm.[10] Jacobs was the company's CEO until it was sold in 1983.[11][12] In 1984, Jacobs moved to London and founded Hamilton Resources Ltd., where he conducted oil trading deals.[12]

In 1989, Jacobs founded United Waste Systems in Greenwich, Connecticut, and began consolidating small waste collection companies that had overlapping routes in rural areas. Jacobs served as chairman and chief executive officer, and in 1992 he took the company public.[13][14] Jacobs sold United Waste Systems to USA Waste Services Inc. (now Waste Management, Inc.) for $2.5 billion.[11]

In September 1997, Jacobs formed United Rentals, serving as the new company's chairman and chief executive officer.[15] During late 1997 and early 1998, Jacobs grew the company through a strategy of consolidating equipment rental dealers in North America.[16][17] He took the company public in December 1997 on the New York Stock Exchange.[18][19]

In 2010, he established Jacobs Private Equity LLC, to invest in a single company.[20][21][22]

In 2011, Jacobs invested approximately $150 million in XPO (then named Express-1 Expedited Solutions), a transportation and third-party logistics provider.[21][23] He became chairman of the board[24][3] and CEO[25][26] and gained ownership of approximately 71 percent of the company.[27] The company was later listed the New York Stock Exchange, under the ticker symbol XPO.[28] In August 2021, XPO completed its spin-off of GXO Logistics, and Jacobs became non-executive chairman of GXO's board of directors.[29][30][31] In August 2022, Jacobs announced plans to step aside as CEO of XPO Logistics but remain executive chairman.[32][3] In November 2022, XPO completed its spin-off of RXO, and Jacobs became RXO's non-executive chairman.[3]

Jacobs is married to Lamia Jacobs; they have four children.[6] Jacobs and his wife live in Greenwich, Connecticut.[18] Jacobs is an art collector with works by Picasso, de Kooning, Calder, Lichtenstein and others.[18]