Earl J. Hesterberg (born 1953) is a businessman in the automotive industry.
Hesterberg is currently the Chief Executive Officer and President of Group 1 Automotive Inc. (since 2005). He is also a Director and Chairman of the Compensation Committee ofStage Stores Inc. (since 2010). He is on the Board of Trustees at Davidson College and the Board of Directors at the Greater Houston Partnership.
Being in these positions at Group 1 Automotive Inc., the firm has become a “more centralized money-making model.”[1]
Hesterberg's total compensation for 2013 was: $4,509,740.[2]
Prior to his current positions, Hesterberg worked at other automotive firms (Ford Motor Company, Nissan Motor Company and Toyota Inc.) in a variety of key roles. He was Group Vice President of North America Marketing, Sales and Service, and Vice President of Marketing, Sales Service in Europe (Ford).
After seven years at Ford, he moved to Nissan where he spent 16 years. At Nissan he held a variety of key roles such as: Vice President, General Manager of Nissan Division in the U.S., and Vice President, Sales, Nissan of Europe.
At Toyota, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Gulf States. He was also on the supervisory board of Ford Werke AG.
Hesterberg received his BA in Psychology at Davidson College in 1975 and his MBA from Xavier University.[3]
Earl Hesterberg was born in Cincinnati, OH. He married his High School sweetheart. They have three children. He loves soccer. He collects old Bordeaux wine bottles, of which he currently has around 800. In terms of cars he has three: a blue BMW M5 (which he drives daily), a white Lexus LFA and a red Ford GT, which he describes as his “toys.”[4]
Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE: GPI) is a Fortune 500 company, founded in 1995,[1] and became public in 1997. It has its headquarters in the One Memorial City Plaza building in the Memorial City district of Houston, Texas.[2][3]
As of 2013, Group 1 became the third largest automotive retailer in the United States[4] and as of 2014 the company owns 116 dealerships in 15 states, 17 in Brazil and 17 in the UK.[5]
The company is led by former Ford Motor Company executive, Earl J. Hesterberg.[6]
