U-Haul

U-Haul is an American rental company specializing in the rental of trucks and trailers for people wishing to move themselves without the assistance of a moving company. In addition, the company also operates many self-storage facilities, sells packing supplies (such as boxes), and in some locations offers actual moving assistance.

The company is part of a larger holding company, AMERCO (based in Reno, Nevada), which also owns companies providing services for U-Haul, as well as a company specializing in insurance and investment products for senior adults.

The company was founded in Ridgefield, Washington in 1946 by Leonard Samuel (L.S. or Sam) Shoen (pronounced "shown") and his wife, Anna Mary (nee Carty). The company built its own trailers on property owned by the Carty family (which is now part of a National Wildlife Refuge). The company would later relocate its headquarters to nearby Portland and eventually to Phoenix where it remains today.

Though the company became an American success story, it would later be beset by numerous internal and external problems. Anna Mary (a devout Catholic) would tragically die of complications from a congenital heart defect at the age of 34, leaving Shoen (originally an agnostic who became Catholic upon their marriage) to raise their six children (Sam -- known as "Doc Sam", Mike, Edward -- known as Joe, Mark, Mary Anna, and Paul) by himself. He would later marry a much younger neighbor with whom he would have five more children (Jim, Sophia, Cecilia, Theresa, and Katrina) before their divorce which was the result of disputes within the blended family and Shoen's frequent absence from home; ultimately he would marry three more times and have yet another child (Scott). Wanting his children to share in the benefit of his hard work, he would gift his children all but around 2% of the company's shares. Shoen would commit suicide by ramming his car into a pole.

However, the energy crisis of the 1970's would badly hurt U-Haul, as many of its independent dealers (most of whom operated gas stations) went out of business. U-Haul would attempt to operate its own rental centers, but would expand far beyond traditional offerings (into such exotic ventures as champagne fountains and videotapes) and lose millions in the process, leading to a fight over company control between two groups of the Shoen children: one loyal to Shoen (Doc Sam, Mike, Cecilia, Mary Anna, Theresa, and Katrina) and the other loyal to Joe, who was in charge of the company (Joe, Mark, Paul, Jim, and Sophia; this group was able to sway several non-family stockholders to their side). The sides would bring numerous lawsuits against each other, not just related to U-Haul but to matters totally unrelated to business (Joe sought to have Doc Sam's medical license revoked; in turn Doc Sam blamed Joe and Mark for hiring a hit man to murder his wife, and even had the case featured on Unsolved Mysteries -- eventually a culprit admitted to the murder, but claimed it was a botched robbery and that he had no dealings with Joe or Mark -- which led to a defamation suit against Doc Sam and Shoen), and in one instance a stockholder's meeting resulted in physical confrontation between siblings. Ultimately the group loyal to Joe would take over control of the company; somewhere between 40-45% of the company is owned by Joe and Mark Shoen through various business interests.

The company operates an unusual crowdfunding site, the U-Haul Investors Club, whereby investors can purchase "U-Notes" in $100 denominations. The notes are collateralized by U-Haul assets such as trucks, trailers, and even equipment dollies and furniture pads. The notes have no secondary market (though investors can sell to other investors privately), are illiquid (they cannot be sold back to the company), and investing is limited to US investors only.