MW New Orleans attack and Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion put car-rental app Turo in the spotlight

By Lukas I. Alpert

The peer-to-peer service was used to rent vehicles used in the incidents on New Orleans' storied Bourbon Street and at a Trump Organization hotel in Las Vegas, leading investigators to probe whether the alleged attacks were connected

Car-rental app Turo Inc. has ridden more than a decades' worth of positive developments to financial growth and a billion-dollar valuation.

Now it has found itself under the spotlight after two vehicles rented through its platform were used in what authorities say were suspected terrorist attacks on New Year's Day.

Why Shamsud-Din Jabbar and Matthew Livelsberger, both U.S. military veterans, allegedly used Turo rather than a traditional rental-car company is not immediately clear, but the fact that both incidents on Wednesday involved the same peer-to-peer app led investigators to look at whether the attacks were connected.

Jabbar allegedly killed 15 people and wounded dozens more after driving a rented pickup truck down a crowded Bourbon Street in New Orleans well after midnight on New Year's Eve. Livelsberger allegedly detonated a rented Tesla Cybertruck in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas hours later, killing himself and wounding seven others.

Both Jabbar and Livelsberger were killed during the incidents.

The FBI on Thursday said it had found "no definitive link" between the two events. But the tragic events brought attention to how Turo operates.

In a statement, Turo said that it was working with law enforcement but that neither renter involved in Wednesday's attacks had triggered any kind of red flag.

"We do not believe that either renter involved in the Las Vegas and New Orleans attacks had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat," the company said.

To open an account, a renter only has to present a valid driver's license, according to Turo. Pickup of a car can be done through a person-to-person meeting or at specified drop-off points set by vehicle owners.

The company was founded in 2009 in Boston as a car-sharing network then called RelayRides. Using a similar peer-to-peer concept like that behind Airbnb Inc. $(ABNB)$ or even eBay Inc. $(EBAY)$, Turo allowed individuals to rent out their cars to others through an app.

The idea allowed Turo to offer a rental-car marketplace without having to maintain its own fleet as the likes of Hertz Global Holdings Inc. $(HTZ)$ and Avis Budget Group Inc. $(CAR)$ do. While the platform allowed customers to rent regular cars, it also offered access to exotic and luxury vehicles.

RelayRides moved its headquarters to San Francisco, where it attracted investment from a variety of venture funds, such as Canaan Partners, August Capital, Google Ventures and Shasta Ventures. In 2015 the company changed its name to Turo.

In 2019 the firm took in a $250 million investment from Barry Diller's IAC Inc. (IAC), which became its biggest single shareholder. The deal granted Turo unicorn status, with a post-money valuation of $1.25 billion.

Turo now operates across the U.S., in parts of Canada, and in Australia, France and the United Kingdom. According to the company, its platform offers over 350,000 different cars to 3.5 million renters annually.

In 2022, Turo filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission declaring its intention to seek an initial public offering, although it has yet to do so. But, as a result, the company has been filing public earnings reports, which indicate the business has been growing rapidly.

In 2023 it booked a net profit of $14.7 million on $879.7 million in revenue, compared with a profit of $154.7 million and revenue of $712.8 million a year before. Through the first three quarters of 2024, the company had seen a net profit on $19 million on $722 million in revenue.

-Lukas I. Alpert

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January 02, 2025 13:50 ET (18:50 GMT)

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