Sam Zaid

Co-Founder and Former Chief Executive Officer Getaround

Last Reviewed: September 25, 2026

Executive Summary

Sam Zaid is one of the three co-founders of Getaround, the peer-to-peer carsharing marketplace, and was its chief executive for most of its history. He led the private company from 2010 to 2020 and again in 2022, and took it public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company in December 2022, becoming chief executive and chairman of the NYSE-listed business. He handed over the chief executive role in February 2024 and remained a director while the company was taken apart. Getaround wound down its US operations in 2025, sold its European business in 2026 and was formally dissolved in July 2026. Zaid and the rest of the board resigned in August 2026, leaving a wind-down specialist as sole director. Before Getaround he founded two software businesses, the consultancy Apption and the retail price intelligence company 360pi.

Career Highlights

• Co-founded Getaround and served as its chief executive from 2010 to December 2020, then as executive chairman until December 2021, before returning as chief executive in January 2022.
• Led Getaround’s December 2022 business combination with InterPrivate II Acquisition Corp., after which he was chief executive and chairman of the listed company until February 2024.
• Served as a Getaround director from December 2022 until resigning, with the rest of the board, effective 26 August 2026.
• Founded 360pi, a price intelligence platform for online retailers that was acquired by Market Track in 2017.
• Founded Apption, an enterprise software consultancy specialising in big data analytics and artificial intelligence, in 2004.

Professional Journey

Zaid studied engineering physics at Queen’s University in Canada and graduated with first-class honours. In 2004 he founded Apption, an enterprise software consultancy specialising in big data analytics and artificial intelligence. He also founded and ran 360pi, a price intelligence platform for online retailers, which was acquired by Market Track in 2017. He later studied artificial intelligence and robotics in Singularity University’s Graduate Studies Program.

Getaround was incorporated in Delaware in 2009 and began operating in 2011. It let car owners rent their vehicles to other drivers by the hour or day through its app, with connected-car technology replacing the key handover. Zaid, one of three co-founders, was chief executive from 2010 until December 2020. He then became executive chairman for a year, and returned as chief executive in January 2022. The company grew into Europe through its 2019 acquisition of Drivy, and in May 2022 agreed to merge with InterPrivate II Acquisition Corp. The deal closed on 8 December 2022, the combined company took the Getaround name, and Zaid became chief executive and chairman of the listed business.

Life as a public company was brief. Getaround relied on a series of secured loans from Mudrick Capital Management, whose founder joined the board in January 2024. On 26 February 2024 the board appointed Eduardo Iniguez as chief executive. The company described Zaid then as the co-founder “who has served in the role of chief executive officer for most of the Company’s history”. Zaid stayed on the board. The New York Stock Exchange suspended trading in Getaround shares in July 2024 because the company’s market value had fallen below its minimum, and began delisting proceedings. Iniguez resigned in October 2024.

In February 2025 the board approved an orderly wind-down of the US business, including its car-share and HyreCar operations, and cut substantially all US staff. It kept the European business, which it later agreed to sell to GoMore, with the sale reported in June 2026. That month the board decided to dissolve the company. Stockholders approved the dissolution on 29 July 2026, and the certificate of dissolution was filed the same day. The company said it did not expect any money to be left for stockholders once its debts were paid. On 26 August 2026 Zaid and all the other directors resigned, and Craig Jalbert, an accountant who specialises in distressed businesses, became sole director and President to complete the liquidation.

Education

Queen’s University

Engineering Physics, graduated with first-class honours