Early Life
Ernest Garcia II was born on May 1, 1957, in Gallup, New Mexico. He is the son of Ernest Garcia, a former mayor of Gallup, and a liquor store co-owner. He attended the University of Arizona but did not complete his degree.
Rise to Success
Garcia's career began in real estate and then transitioned to the automotive industry. In 1990, he pleaded guilty to bank fraud related to the Lincoln Savings and Loan collapse. Despite this setback, Garcia acquired the bankrupt rent-a-car franchise Ugly Duckling in 1991, merging it with his finance company. He transformed it into a company that sold and financed used cars, primarily targeting subprime buyers. He took the company public in 1996 under the ticker symbol "UGLY". In 2002, Garcia and former CEO took the company private and renamed it DriveTime.
Key Business Strategies
A key strategy for Garcia was focusing on selling used cars and offering in-house financing, including subprime lending, using a proprietary credit scoring model. DriveTime became one of the largest used car retailers in the U.S., with over 130 locations. In 2012, Garcia's son, Ernest Garcia III, co-founded Carvana, an online platform for buying and selling used cars, in which Ernest Garcia II became a primary investor. Carvana's IPO in 2017 significantly boosted Garcia's net worth.
Philanthropy
Ernest Garcia II, through the Garcia Family Foundation, supports various educational and non-profit groups with a focus on Arizona.
