Brad Jacobs (born August 3, 1956) is an American businessman who serves as chairman and CEO of QXO, Inc.[1][2] In addition, he is executive chairman of XPO, Inc.,[3][4] and non-executive chairman of RXO, Inc. and GXO Logistics[5] both of which are spin-off companies from XPO, Inc..
Jacobs has created eight corporations, six of which are publicly traded: QXO (2024); XPO, Inc. (2011) and its spin-offs, GXO Logistics (2021) and RXO (2022); United Rentals, Inc. (1997); and United Waste Systems, Inc., now Waste Management, Inc. (1989).[10]
In 1979,[11] Jacobs co-founded Amerex Oil Associates, Inc., an oil brokerage firm.[12] Jacobs was the company's CEO until it was sold in 1983.[13][14] In 1984, Jacobs moved to London and founded Hamilton Resources, Ltd., where he conducted oil trading deals.[14] Jacobs has frequently recognized Ludwig Jesselson as an influential mentor.[15][16]
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 was chairman and chief executive officer, and in 1992 he took the company public.[17][18] Jacobs sold United Waste Systems to USA Waste Services, Inc. for $2.5 billion in August 1997.[13]
In September 1997, Jacobs formed United Rentals, and became the new company's chairman and chief executive officer.[19] During late 1997 and early 1998, Jacobs grew the company through a strategy of consolidating equipment rental dealers in North America.[20][21] He took the company public in December 1997 on the New York Stock Exchange.[15]
In 2010, he established Jacobs Private Equity LLC to invest in a single company.[22][23][24]
In 2011, Jacobs invested approximately $150 million in XPO, Inc. (then named Express-1 Expedited Solutions), a transportation and third-party logistics provider.[23][25] He became chairman of the board[26][5] and CEO[27][28] and gained ownership of approximately 71 percent of the company.[29] The company was later listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol XPO, Inc.[30] In August 2021, XPO, Inc. completed its spin-off of GXO Logistics, and Jacobs became non-executive chairman of GXO's board of directors.[31][32][33] In August 2022, Jacobs announced plans to step aside as CEO of XPO, Inc. but remain executive chairman.[34][5] In November 2022, XPO, Inc. completed its spin-off of RXO, and Jacobs became RXO's non-executive chairman.[5] In 2023, he announced the upcoming release of his book How to Make a Few Billion Dollars.[35]
In June 2024, Jacobs founded QXO with the intention to consolidate the $800 billion building products distribution industry.[36] With the launch, he raised more than $5 billion of equity,[37][38] including what Bloomberg called the largest equity offering ever in the building products sector and private investment in public equity for industrials.[38]
Bibliography
How to Make a Few Billion Dollars. Austin: Greenleaf Book Group Press, 2024. ISBN979-8886451740[39]
^"The big bet of Brad Jacobs". www.dcvelocity.com. Retrieved April 8, 2023. At 23, Jacobs co-founded Amerex Oil Associates Inc., a New Jersey-based oil brokerage firm, and served as its CEO until the firm was sold in 1983.
^"An Acquiring Mind". Inbound Logistics. October 2015. My mentor, Ludwig Jesselson (a longtime commodity trader and philanthropist), once told me that if you genuinely enjoy solving problems, then you should choose business as a profession
