The Car Dealership Billionaire No One Knows

Forbes

For four decades, Taylor has quietly built a sprawling empire in the shadows, though there are more than a few signs of him if you know where to look. After receiving a tip from a longtime source, Forbes began digging into Taylor and his Automotive Management Services, looking through dozens of Florida business records and speaking to eight people who know of him, including analysts, rival car dealers and business partners.  All told, Forbes estimates Taylor’s net worth to be $1.9 billion. Most of it is tied up in his estimated 75% stake in Automotive Management Services, which owns more than 120 dealerships across America and is worth some $1.6 billion, by our count. But, like Batman’s alter ego Bruce Wayne, Taylor also has a penchant for the good life. He’s spent at least $180 million on lavish homes, including $30 million for Tommy Hilfiger’s New York City penthouse in 2019; he also has a $45 million private jet with his initials TT on the tail.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/devinseanmartin/2024/01/15/the-car-dealership-billionaire-no-one-knows/?sh=57453adf5585  Forbes Daily Briefing shares the best of Forbes reporting on wealth, business, entrepreneurship, leadership and more. Tune in every day, seven days a week, to hear a new story. Subscribe here: https://art19.com/shows/forbes-daily-briefing Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00 Here's your Forbes daily briefing for Wednesday, January 17th.

00:05 Today on Forbes, the car dealership billionaire no one knows.

00:11 On a sultry November afternoon in West Palm Beach, Florida, Terry Taylor picks up the

00:16 phone in his waterfront office.

00:19 In a grizzled Southern drawl, he says, "I know you've contacted basically everybody

00:24 I know, so I figure it's time you hear from me."

00:28 After weeks of trying to reach Taylor, the elusive billionaire behind one of the largest

00:33 car dealership groups in the U.S., or anyone that knows anything about him, word has finally

00:38 made it back to the man himself.

00:40 Taylor, who admits his attempts at secrecy are by design, says, "I'll agree to answer

00:46 a few questions."

00:49 The 72-year-old has never sat for an interview.

00:51 In fact, he rarely sits for anything, skipping out on most meetings even with his own associates

00:56 and only agreeing to show up at conventions or conferences on the condition that he's

01:00 not introduced to anyone.

01:02 One source told Forbes, "He's like Batman.

01:06 You hear about him and you admire his work, but nobody has really ever seen him in real

01:10 life."

01:12 For four decades, Taylor has quietly built a sprawling empire in the shadows, though

01:16 there are more than a few signs of him if you know where to look.

01:20 After receiving a tip from a longtime source, Forbes began digging into Taylor and his company,

01:25 Automotive Management Services, looking through dozens of Florida business records and speaking

01:29 to eight people who know of him, including analysts, rival car dealers, and business

01:34 partners.

01:35 All told, Forbes estimates Taylor's net worth to be $1.9 billion.

01:41 Most of it is tied up in his estimated 75% stake in Automotive Management Services, which

01:47 owns more than 120 dealerships across America and is worth some $1.6 billion, by Forbes'

01:54 account.

01:55 But, like Batman's alter ego Bruce Wayne, Taylor also has a penchant for the good life.

02:01 He spent at least $180 million on lavish homes, including $30 million for Tommy Hilfiger's

02:06 New York City penthouse in 2019.

02:09 He also has a $45 million private jet, with his initials, TT, on the tail.

02:16 It's been roughly half a century since Taylor first got into selling cars.

02:21 His father, Warren Taylor, opened a used Ford lot in Daytona Beach after returning from

02:26 a four-year stint in the Marine Corps.

02:28 Terry worked around the dealership in his teens, and Florida business records show he

02:32 was made vice president by 1975, when he was just 23 years old.

02:37 Not long after, his father decided to sell.

02:40 Taylor says, "It wasn't like a family business.

02:43 I wasn't handed anything."

02:46 Using money scraped together from working for his dad, Taylor went into the business

02:50 for himself, buying his first new car dealership, selling Fords, in Daytona Beach in 1982.

02:56 It didn't take long before Taylor was buying other dealerships in North Florida, this time

03:01 selling new models of Fords and Toyotas.

03:04 It can be relatively easy to parlay one dealership into many, according to Ray Socolo, who owns

03:09 13 dealerships in the New England area, so long as you earn the trust of the right people.

03:14 He says, "Once the brand manufacturer has a little more confidence in you and the bank

03:19 sees that you've demonstrated you can run a successful dealership, they're a little

03:23 more flexible with financial terms.

03:24 It's a bit of a domino effect once you have a few dealerships under your belt."

03:30 When Taylor began expanding outside of Florida in the mid-to-late 1980s, he realized he couldn't

03:35 manage all the locations by himself.

03:37 So he started partnering with his general managers to make sure his far-reaching auto

03:41 empire remained well-run.

03:44 As Taylor continued to buy up dealerships during the '90s, he often retained the sitting

03:48 general manager of a newly acquired dealership, offering him or her equity to continue to

03:53 manage the business on the ground while Taylor kept majority ownership.

03:58 There are now approximately 100 general managers across Taylor's network who each have stakes

04:03 of roughly 25 percent, this according to Taylor himself.

04:07 By the 2000s, Taylor had started to move upscale, with luxury car brands like Mercedes, Lexus,

04:13 and Porsche occupying a growing portion of his empire and his bottom line.

04:18 High-end dealerships often generate revenues twice as high as their consumer brand counterparts,

04:23 according to auto industry analysts.

04:26 For full coverage, check out Devin Sean Martin's piece on Forbes.com.

04:32 This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:34 Thanks for tuning in.

04:35 [music]

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