# Scott Painter

> Scott Painter is an American automotive technology entrepreneur, co-founder and founding CEO of CarsDirect, and founder of TrueCar. After leaving TrueCar in 2015 and building vehicle-subscription ventures including Fair and Autonomy, he led its take-private acquisition and returned as CEO in January 2026. He became lead director at Autonomy in June 2026.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at TrueCar; founder and lead director at Autonomy
- **Organizations:** CarsDirect, TrueCar, Fair, Autonomy, Autonomy Data Services, Fair Holdings, AUTOAccess, Build-To-Order, Direct Ventures
- **From:** Seattle, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** United States Military Academy at West Point, University of California, Berkeley
- **Known for:** Co-founded CarsDirect and led its initial expansion., Founded TrueCar and led its 2014 IPO., Built vehicle-subscription companies with Georg Bauer.

## Career timeline

- **Age 14** — Started an automotive business at age 14.
- **1998** — Co-founded CarsDirect with Bill Gross and served as founding CEO.
- **1999** — CarsDirect launched nationally; Robert Brisco succeeded Painter as CEO in November, with Painter becoming vice chairman.
- **2005** — Co-founded the business incorporated as Zag, the corporate predecessor of TrueCar.
- **2010** — Zag and the TrueCar pricing business merged.
- **2014** — Led TrueCar through its May IPO.
- **2015** — Left TrueCar as CEO and chairman effective December 15.
- **2016** — Co-founded Fair with Georg Bauer.
- **2019** — Resigned as Fair CEO in October.
- **2020** — Announced NextCar Holding Company in October.
- **2022** — Autonomy launched its Tesla Model 3 subscription offering in California.
- **2026** — Returned as TrueCar CEO in January following the founder-led take-private acquisition; became Autonomy lead director in June.

## Achievements

- Co-founded CarsDirect and led its initial expansion.
- Founded TrueCar and led its 2014 IPO.
- Built vehicle-subscription companies with Georg Bauer.
- Led the investor group that completed TrueCar’s $227 million take-private acquisition in January 2026.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — Appeared on Fox Business on August 25 to discuss vehicle affordability and the impact of U.S.-Canada tariff tensions on consumers and automakers.
- **2026-06** — Fred Weick became Autonomy CEO; Painter moved to lead director while continuing as TrueCar CEO.
- **2026-04** — TrueCar announced it had achieved profitability following an operating reset; the release did not provide full financial statements.
- **2026-03** — TrueCar introduced new dealer offer and sales-verification standards.
- **2026-02** — TrueCar announced a 30 percent workforce reduction and curtailed three non-core initiatives.
- **2026-01** — Fair Holdings and its investor group completed the $227 million take-private acquisition of TrueCar; Painter returned as CEO.

## Links

- Website: https://www.fair.com/home/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spainter
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/thescottpainter

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/scott-painter
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-15