United Rentals President and Chief Operating Officer Matthew Flannery has been promoted to CEO and will retain the presidency of the world”™s largest equipment rental company.
Flannery, who was named president last March, is taking over the CEO position at the Stamford firm from Michael Kneeland, who has been appointed nonexecutive chairman. United Rentals Chairman Jenne Britell, who has held that position since 2008, is retiring. All of the moves will become effective at the company”™s annual stockholders meeting on May 8.
Since 2009, United Rentals has nearly doubled in size to approximately 1,200 locations with 18,800 employees and annual revenue of more than $7.8 billion. In that time, the company has made numerous acquisitions and expanded its specialty rental offerings. The company joined the S&P and Fortune 500 in 2014, and over the 10-year period ended Dec. 31, 2018, generated a total stockholder return of 1,008 percent, outperforming the S&P 500 index by 830 basis points over the same period.
“Over the past 10 years, we”™ve invested in growing our scale, technology and service offering to further differentiate United Rentals, and will continue to do so,” Flannery said. “There is tremendous opportunity to build on our leadership position. With the strong and sustainable business model we have today, our potential for continued value creation has never been greater.”
