Brad Jacobs (businessman)
Brad Jacobs | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 3, 1956 Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Education | Northfield Mount Hermon School |
| Alma mater | Bennington College Brown University |
| Occupation | Businessman |
Brad Jacobs (born August 3, 1956) is an American businessman[1] who is chairman and CEO of QXO, Inc.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
He is the author of the book, How to Make a Few Billion Dollars, published in 2024.[9] A sequel, How to Make a Few More Billion Dollars, came out in 2025.
Career
Jacobs created eight companies, six of them are publicly traded: QXO (2024);[10] XPO (2011) and its spin-offs, GXO Logistics (2021) and RXO (2022); United Rentals (1997); and United Waste Systems, now Waste Management (1989).[11] He has completed about 500 M&A transactions.[12]
In 1979,[13] Jacobs co-founded Amerex Oil Associates, an oil brokerage firm.[14] He was the company's CEO until it was sold in 1983. In 1984, he moved to London and founded Hamilton Resources, where he conducted oil trading deals.[15] Jacobs has frequently recognized Ludwig Jesselson as being an influential mentor.[16][17]
In 1989, Jacobs founded United Waste Systems in Greenwich, Connecticut and began consolidating small waste collection companies that had overlapping routes in rural areas. He was chairman and CEO; in 1992 he took the company public.[18] He sold United Waste Systems to USA Waste Services for $2.5 billion in August 1997.[13]
In September 1997, Jacobs formed United Rentals becoming the chairman and chief executive officer of the company. During late 1997 and early 1998, the company grew through a strategy of consolidating equipment rental dealers in North America.[19] He took the company public in December 1997 on the New York Stock Exchange.[16][20] In 2011, he invested approximately $150 million in XPO (then named Express-1 Expedited Solutions), a transportation and third-party logistics provider.[21] He became chairman of the board and CEO and gained ownership of approximately 71 percent of the company.[22] The company was later listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol XPO.[23] In August 2021, XPO completed its spin-off of GXO Logistics and Jacobs became the non-executive chairman of GXO's board of directors.[24][25] In August 2022, he announced plans to step aside as CEO of XPO but remain executive chairman.[26]
In June 2024, Jacobs founded QXO with the intention to consolidate the $800 billion building products distribution industry.[7][27] With the launch, he raised over $5 billion in equity.[28][29] That included what Bloomberg said was the largest equity offering ever in the building products sector and the largest ever private investment in public equity (PIPE) for an industrial company.[29][30] He is a member of The Business Council in Washington, D.C.[31][32] and The Economic Club of New York.
Bibliography
- How to Make a Few Billion Dollars; Austin: Greenleaf Book Group Press, 2024; ISBN 979-8886451740[33]
- How to Make a Few More Billion Dollars; Austin: Greenleaf Book Group Press, 2025; ISBN 979-8-88645-465-9
Personal life
Jacobs was born in Providence, Rhode Island, to Charlotte Sybil (née Bander) and Albert Jordan Jacobs.[34][35] His father was a fashion jewelry importer.[35] After graduating from Northfield Mount Hermon School in Gill, Massachusetts, he attended Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont and Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. He studied math and music, but he dropped out in 1976.[36]
Brad Jacobs and his wife live in Greenwich, Connecticut[16] and they have four children.[37] He is an art collector and owns art by Picasso, de Kooning, Calder, Lichtenstein, and other artists.[16]
References
- ^ Walker, Karen. "Brad Jacobs: A Playbook For Creating Massive Shareholder Value". Forbes. Retrieved October 25, 2025.
- ^ Staff, HBSDealer. "QXO Announces Executive Lineup". HBS Dealer. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
- ^ Szal, Andy. "Startup Building Products Distributor Officially Launches". Industrial Distribution. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
- ^ Bloomberg Profile. "Brad Jacobs". Bloomberg. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
- ^ Lublin, Joann. "XPO's Billionaire Chairman Brad Jacobs Is Hunting for His Next Big Deal". Time. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
- ^ Black, Thomas. "Brad Jacobs Is on the Hunt. Investors Should Pay Attention". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
- ^ a b Young, Liz (December 11, 2023). "Brad Jacobs Targets Construction Materials for Next Billion-Dollar Rollup". WSJ.
- ^ Thomas, Lauren. "Meet the Takeover King Who Leans on Yoga and Team Bonding to Make Billions". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
- ^ Greenberg, Gregg. "Want To Make a 'Few Billion Dollars'? Entrepreneur Explains How". www.investmentnews.com. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
- ^ Monica, Paul R. La. "A Bet on QXO Stock Is a Bet on This Billionaire. Why It's Time to Buy". Barrons. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
- ^ Gara, Antoine. "Bradley Jacobs: The Maestro of Mergers". Forbes India. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
- ^ Costello, Miles. "Five Hundred Deals and Five Billion-Dollar Companies – Buy This Investor's Next Venture". The Telegraph. Retrieved February 5, 2025.
- ^ a b Solomon, Mark. "The Big Bet of Brad Jacobs". DC Velocity. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
- ^ Fishman-Lapin, Julie. "June 4, 2005 Entrepreneur Tells of Unknown Future". Retrieved November 11, 2011.
- ^ Soule, Alexander. "Greenwich's XPO Logistics CEO Candid About French Acquisition". StamfordAdvocate. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Gara, Antoine. "Better Than Amazon? How Bradley Jacobs Turned A $63M Bet Into A $12 Billion Transportation Empire". Forbes. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
- ^ Case Studies—LeaderSHIP. "An Acquiring Mind". Inbound Logistics.
- ^ "United Rentals, Inc. – Company History". Fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
- ^ "The Earth Mover". Forbes. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
- ^ Rosenberg, Nathaniel. "6 Connecticut Residents Make Forbes List of America's Richest Billionaires". Stamford Advocate. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
- ^ Anathalakshmi, A. "Jacobs Puts $150 Million Into Express-1, Aims Big". Reuters. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
- ^ Zimmerman, Kevin. "XPO Logistics: Fast Growth Through Acquisitions and Management Style". Westfair Business Journal. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
- ^ Lee, Richard. "Jacobs Has Big Plans for Express-1 Expediter". Greenwich Time. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
- ^ Schott, Paul. "Fortune 500 Company XPO Logistics' Revenues Jump 44% Before Spin-Off: 'The Future Looks Bright'". Greenwich Time. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
- ^ Zimmerman, Kevin. "XPO Completes Spinoff of GXO, Which Begins Trading Today". Westfair Business Journal. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
- ^ Young, Liz. "Brad Jacobs Will Step Aside as CEO of XPO Logistics". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
- ^ Ward, Jamie. "QXO: a Compelling Opportunity in the Building Materials Industry". MoneyWeek. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
- ^ Castenson, Jennifer (June 17, 2024). "Big Investment In Building Products Promises To Transform The Industry". Forbes.
- ^ a b Porter, Kiel (June 13, 2024). "Billionaire Jacobs Nears $3.5 Billion QXO Equity Offering". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on June 14, 2024. Retrieved December 30, 2024.
- ^ Gottlieb, Bryan. "Ten Minutes with QXO CEO Brad Jacobs". Engineering News-Record. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
- ^ Saloi, Manas J. "Blog on: How to Make a Few Billion Dollars - Brad Jacobs". Manas J. Saloi. Retrieved July 11, 2025.
- ^ "Jacobs Private Equity". www.jpe.com. Retrieved July 11, 2025.
- ^ The Claman Countdown. "Billionaire Brad Jacobs Reveals his Recipe for Building a Business Empire". Fox Business. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ "Charlotte Sybil (Bander) Jacobs (1929–2013)". The Providence Journal. April 8, 2013.
- ^ a b "Albert Jordan Jacobs (1927–2018)". Legacy. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
- ^ Stinson, Jim. "From Sapling to Pure-Play LTL: The Story of XPO Logistics Under Jacobs". Trucking Dive. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
- ^ Bell, Jeff. "XPO's Pacer Acquisition Part of Bold Growth Strategy". Columbus Business First.