New Hertz CFO Scott Haralson is a seasoned executive and veteran of the transportation industry, having most recently served as CFO of Spirit Airlines.
Hertz announced on June 3 it is losing its chief financial officer and chief operating officer as the reeling auto rental company struggles with fallout from an over-investment in electric vehicles and record low stock price.
The company appointed Scott M. Haralson as CFO, who will start at the end of June. He succeeds Alexandra Brooks, who is leaving to pursue other opportunities after less than a year in the position.
Brooks, who was chief accounting officer and senior vice president at Hertz before taking on the CFO role, will remain until the end of the month to ensure an orderly transition, the company said. Before joining Hertz in June 2020, Brooks was vice president of internal audit at Aptiv PLC, a global technology company, and before that was the CFO for Champion Windows and Home Exteriors, a home improvement company.
Haralson is a seasoned executive and veteran of the transportation industry with over 25 years of leadership and corporate finance experience. He most recently served as CFO of Spirit Airlines, where he helped the company navigate the pandemic and strengthened its financial position, according to a news release. Before Spirit Airlines, Haralson held key financial leadership roles at Dish Network, Frontier Airlines, Swift Aviation Group, and US Airways. He has worked in multiple facets of financial management, including capital markets and capital funding, capital budgeting, strategic planning, forecasting, financial planning and analysis and cost management, and treasury and cash management.
Hertz also announced that COO Justin Keppy resigned effective June 3. He joined the company on Nov. 15, 2023, after leaving the Carrier Corporation where he most recently served as president of North America residential and light commercial HVAC. The company and Keppy “agreed” to the resignation effective immediately, according to a news release.
The sudden departures follow the resignation of Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr on March 31, who was succeeded by Gil West, former COO of Delta Airlines and GM’s Cruise unit, as of April 1.
Scherr’s departure came within a few months after Hertz announced a major pullback from its investment in electric vehicles and its largest quarterly earnings loss in three years. Hertz is shedding 30,000 electric vehicles, which amounts to more than one-third of its EV fleet, due to high repair costs and customer resistance.
According to MarketWatch, Hertz’s stock sank 5.28% on June 3, and closed at another record low of $4.13 per share after a Friday close of $4.36 per share. The stock has plunged about 60% year to date.
