Ernest C. Garcia III (born 1982/1983) is an American businessman. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer of online used car retailer Carvana.
Ernest Garcia III is the son of businessman Ernest Garcia II.[1] He earned a bachelor's degree in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University in 2005.[2][3] Garcia lives in Phoenix, Arizona.[4][5]
Garcia began his career as an associate in the Principal Transactions Group at RBS Greenwich Capital.[6] He joined DriveTime in 2007, before co-founding (with Ryan Keeton and Ben Huston) its subsidiary Carvana in 2012, with Garcia as president and CEO since its inception.[7][2][8][9] Carvana was eventually spun out from DriveTime and given an IPO in 2017.[7] At that time, Garcia became chairman of Carvana.[10]
In 2016, Garcia was named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year in the Mountain Desert region for the consumer technology category [11] Garcia, along with Carvana's co-founders, were included in Fortune's 40 Under 40 list in 2017.[12]
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Garcia's wealth dropped 98% in 2022, as Carvana's stock price continued to fall amid bankruptcy concerns.[13]
