United Rentals: Governing Growth

In 2025, the board of directors of United Rentals, Inc., the largest equipment rental company in the US, is reviewing its governance strategy and practices in light of the company's past success and future plans in a rapidly changing business environment. Founded in 1997, as a consolidation of several equipment rental companies, the company pursued rapid growth through acquisitions in a fragmented market. In the years leading up to the Great Recession, difficulties in management oversight and financial reporting led to regulatory scrutiny, financial strain, and a change in leadership. Beginning in 2008, a newly-constructed board and management team, under then CEO Michael Kneeland and board chairman Jenne Britell, implemented significant governance reforms. Over the ensuring years, United Rentals continued to pursue acquisitions as a core component of its growth strategy, attributing its success in large part to long-standing board policies and effective board-management dynamics, underpinned by the board's distinctive culture as described in the case. During this period, United Rentals underwent several board refreshment cycles and a significant CEO succession, with Kneeland transitioning to the role of board chairman. In 2025, as the board looks to the future, it must decide what changes, if any, might be needed to its governance model.