United Rentals, Inc.

What does United Rentals own?
The company owns a $22.6 billion fleet of rental equipment, 1,700-plus branch locations, and the technology platforms serving them. Its assets are physical equipment, not subsidiary brands.

Is United Rentals publicly traded?
Yes. It trades on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker URI and is an S&P 500 component.

Who founded United Rentals?
Bradley S. Jacobs founded the company in 1997 in Greenwich, Connecticut, building it through rapid acquisition of local rental yards.

Where is United Rentals headquartered?
The company is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.

How big is United Rentals?
It is the world's largest equipment rental company, with $16.1 billion in 2025 revenue, 1,658 North American locations plus European and Australia/New Zealand sites, and approximately 27,900 employees.

Who owns United Rentals?
Public shareholders own it through the NYSE listing, with institutional investors holding most shares.

What equipment does United Rentals rent?
Construction and industrial equipment including aerial lifts, earthmoving machines, forklifts, and generators, plus specialty lines for trench safety, power, fluid solutions, storage, and climate control.

Bradley S. Jacobs founded United Rentals in 1997 in Greenwich, Connecticut with a roll-up strategy: acquire hundreds of fragmented local rental yards and consolidate them under one national brand. The company went public the same year and acquired more than 100 businesses in its first two years, instantly becoming the largest rental company in North America.

The early 2000s consolidated the model before a decade of mega-acquisitions transformed it: RSC Equipment Rental in 2012 for approximately $4.2 billion doubled its scale, and National Pump acquired in 2014 and BlueLine in 2018 added specialty depth.

Matthew Flannery, a company veteran who ran operations, became CEO in 2019 and has presided over the company's strongest period. The specialty segment expansion, technology investment through the Total Control platform, and disciplined fleet management turned the business into a free cash flow machine, with 2025 marking records across revenue, EBITDA, and shareholder returns.

The rental model is inherently circular: sharing equipment across customers reduces total equipment production and idle capacity, a structural environmental benefit the company quantifies in its reporting.

Operational sustainability covers fleet emissions, fuel efficiency, and electric and hybrid equipment additions to the fleet. It reports through standard ESG frameworks without consumer-facing certifications.

The stronger operational focus is safety, equipment inspection, customer training, and worksite safety services, which the company treats as both an ethical imperative and a commercial product line.

United Rentals is a perennial Fortune 500 member and S&P 500 component, and its stock has been among the best performers in the industrial sector over the past decade.

The company regularly wins industry recognition for safety programs and equipment innovation, and Matthew Flannery's leadership is consistently cited in rental industry rankings.

Workplace safety: Equipment rental inherently involves heavy machinery accidents at customer sites, with periodic OSHA matters and liability claims common to the industry, managed through training and equipment standards.

Acquisition integration: The roll-up history means periodic integration frictions and branch consolidations in overlapping markets, standard for the model.

Used equipment market impact: The company's size means its used equipment sales periodically affect secondary market pricing, an economic observation rather than a complaint.