Hertz Files for Bankruptcy After Rental-Car Demand Vanishes
- Company will keep operating while it devises a recovery plan
- Debt load combines with Covid-19 to trigger financial collapse
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Hertz Global Holdings Inc., the car-rental company founded with a dozen Ford Model Ts over a century ago, filed for bankruptcy late Friday after sweeping travel restrictions and the global economic collapse destroyed demand for its vehicles.
The Chapter 11 filing in Delaware allows Hertz to keep operating while it devises a plan to pay creditors and turn around the business. The second-largest U.S car-rental-car company does not need debtor-in-possession financing for now, according to a person familiar with the matter, because it has more than $1 billion cash on hand.