Joseph Kennedy

Joseph Kennedy locked in a hotel room to pump Hertz stock

Sam recounts the founder of Hertz (then a cab company) telling young, rule-bending Joe Kennedy to lock himself in a New York hotel room and run buybacks to make the company look far bigger than it was, then sell into the demand he created.

“The founder of Hertz said, Joe, I need you to lock your— he was young and he goes, he was willing to break the rules. He goes, I need you to lock yourself in this hotel room up in New York and I need you to do a lot of these buybacks so it appears as though we are a lot bigger than we are. And then once people start buying them back, sell them our stuff and you're going to save us.”