BY MARK B. SOLOMON, EXECUTIVE EDITOR – NEWS
THE DC VELOCITY Q&A
thoughtleaders
IN 2012, THIS MAGAZINE PUBLISHED A STORY TITLED “THE BIG BET OF
Brad Jacobs.” The story focused on how Jacobs, an executive with no direct experience in transportation and logistics and with whom few in the industry were familiar,
planned to do what no one in this space had ever done successfully: acquire a cluster
of companies over a relatively short span and unify them under one umbrella.
To call it a “big bet” seemed like an understatement. Transport and logistics compa-
nies have long had trouble integrating one or two acquisitions. Jacobs would end up
fusing 17 of them in just four years. The doubters were out in force from the start, and
even Jacobs acknowledged the risks to the strategy as he was pursuing it.
The bet has paid off in spades. From an initial $150 million investment, his compa-
28 DC VELOCITY SEPTEMBER 2018 www.dcvelocity.com
The logistics industry
existed before Brad
Jacobs. It will likely
never be the same
after him.
Accomplishing the
impossible INTERVIEW WITH BRAD JACOBS
