Via news from me [1] comes this little fluff piece [2] about the Avis Car Rental company [3]. What I'm confused by though, is the business of Avis—is it car rentals, or being bought out?
The story of Avis goes something like:
Warren E. Avis (1946) ↓ Richard Robie (1954) ↓ Amoskeag Co. (1956) ↓ Lazard Frères Co. (1962) ↓ ITT Corporation (1965) ↓ Avis (1972) ↓ Norton Simon (1977) ↓ Esmark (1983) ↓ Beatrice Foods (1984) ↓ Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company (1986) ↓ Wesray (1986) ↓ PHH Group, Avis Europe P.L.C (1986) (see article) ↓ Avis, employee owned (1987) ↓ General Motors 26% ownership (1989) ↓ HFS (1996) ↓ Avis goes public (1997) ↓ Cendant 34% ownership (1997) ↓ Cedant (1999) ↓ Avis Budget Group (2006)
and I'm sure a lot of people got rich along the way, but what exactly did they do?
I mean, other than push some paper back and forth?
[1] http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2007_05_15.html#013462