Hertz, Tesla and the Perils of CEO Groupthink

null By Allysia FinleyJan. 14, 2024 12:07 pm ETJournal Editorial Report: The week's best and worst from Kim Strassel, Kyle Peterson, Jason Riley and Dan Henninger. Images: AP/AFP/Getty Images/wawog_now via Instagram Composite: Mark KellyHertz announced to much fanfare on Oct. 25, 2021, that it planned to buy 100,000 Teslas. “Electric vehicles are now mainstream, and we’ve only just begun to see rising global demand and interest,” then-CEO Mark Fields said. The share prices of both companies popped, and Tesla’s market capitalization surged past $1 trillion, exceeding the valuations of nearly all traditional automakers combined.C-suite executives praised the announcement. “Kudos to Mark Fields and the Hertz team for steering a great American brand into the electric and connected future,” Ford CEO Jim Farley tweeted. Hertz had emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy only a few months earlier. It was betting on electric vehicles to power its revival.Copyright ©2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. A

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Hertz, Tesla and the Perils of CEO Groupthink

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Allysia Finley

Jan. 14, 2024 12:07 pm ET

Journal Editorial Report: The week's best and worst from Kim Strassel, Kyle Peterson, Jason Riley and Dan Henninger. Images: AP/AFP/Getty Images/wawog_now via Instagram Composite: Mark Kelly

Hertz announced to much fanfare on Oct. 25, 2021, that it planned to buy 100,000 Teslas. “Electric vehicles are now mainstream, and we’ve only just begun to see rising global demand and interest,” then-CEO Mark Fields said. The share prices of both companies popped, and Tesla’s market capitalization surged past $1 trillion, exceeding the valuations of nearly all traditional automakers combined.

C-suite executives praised the announcement. “Kudos to Mark Fields and the Hertz team for steering a great American brand into the electric and connected future,” Ford CEO Jim Farley tweeted. Hertz had emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy only a few months earlier. It was betting on electric vehicles to power its revival.