Stephen Scherr

Stephen Scherr, who ran Hertz for just over two years after three decades at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., has decided to step down, the rental-car company said. Hertz said Scherr will assist with the CEO transition until he leaves the company and its board on March 31 2024. Scherr, 59, joined Hertz several months after it emerged from bankruptcy and started making splashy wagers on electric vehicles. Under new owners Knighthead Capital Management and Certares Management, the rental company announced plans to order 100,000 vehicles from Tesla Inc., sending the automaker’s market capitalization soaring past the $1 trillion mark at the time. Hertz doubled down on EVs in the months after Scherr took over, placing big orders with Polestar, the electric-car maker owned by China’s Geely and Sweden’s Volvo Car, and GM. Hertz announced its EV sell-down plans in January 2024, citing lackluster demand, costly depreciation and expensive repairs. The Estero, Florida-based company took a $245 million charge and reported its biggest quarterly loss since the pandemic. Stephen Scherr was Goldman Sachs chief strategy officer and chief executive officer of GS Bank USA. He chairs the Goldman Sachs Bank USA Management Committee and serves on the Management Committee, Firmwide Risk Committee, Firmwide Finance Committee, Firmwide Investment Policy Committee, Firmwide Hedge Fund and Private Equity Screening Committee and Growth Markets Executive Group. Mr. Scherr joined Goldman Sachs in 1993 as an Associate in the Financial Institutions Group. In 1996, he transferred to Emerging Markets/Capital Markets in the Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities Division. In 1998, Mr. Scherr moved to the Communications, Media and Entertainment Group and served as Chief Operating Officer of the Telecom, Media and Technology Group from 2004 to 2005. He served as Chief Operating Officer for the Investment Banking Division from 2005 to 2007 and was Head of the Americas Financing Group before serving as Global Head of the Financing Group from 2008 to 2014. Mr. Scherr began his current role as Chief Strategy Officer in 2014, and led the firm’s Latin American business from 2011 to 2016 before assuming responsibility for Goldman Sachs Bank USA. Mr. Scherr was named Managing Director in 2001 and Partner in 2002. Mr. Scherr serves on the board of the Jewish Museum in New York and the New York Stem Cell Foundation.