The soon-to-be-retired CEO of global rental car giant Avis Budget Group is joining The Hartford’s board of directors.

Larry De Shon takes on his new role as of Feb. 19, 2020 and he will serve on The Hartford’s Audit Committee and the Finance, Investment and Risk Management Committee.

Christopher Swift, The Hartford’s chairman and CEO, said De Shon will bring “extensive C-suite experience” along with international expertise to his new role.

De Shon, 60, is retiring at the end of 2019 as president and CEO of Avis Budget Group, Inc., and initially joined the company as executive vice president of operations in 2006. The Hartford said D Shon was instrumental in reinventing the company to respond to changing consumer preferences and open up new revenue streams and business models through initiatives that include creating the first end-to-end digital car rental experience, migrating the platform to the cloud, and building one of the largest connected car fleets in the world.

As president of Avis Budget Group International, De Shon oversaw the Avis, Budget, Zipcar, Payless, Maggiore and Apex businesses in Europe as well as businesses in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Before joining Avis, he had a 28-year career with United Airlines rising through the ranks to senior vice president of airport operations. In his most recent role with United Airlines, he was in charge of ground operations, logistics, safety, security, customer processing and service, product development and internal communications, leading an organization of 23,000 employees in 29 countries.

Source: The Hartford