Copart, Inc. Announces Senior Leadership Appointments

DALLAS, Jan. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) is pleased to announce the appointment of three new members to its senior executive leadership team: Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) David (Dave) Kang, Chief Product Officer Neel Madhvani, and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Hessel Verhage. Stephen (Steve) Powers, who has served as COO since October 2020, will assume the role of Chief Business Development Officer after leading a transition of operational responsibilities to Hessel. All four executives will work from Copart’s global headquarters in Dallas, Texas and will report to Copart Co-CEO Jeff Liaw.

Steve Powers, Chief Business Development Officer

Steve leads Copart’s real estate acquisition and facility development teams, as well as initiatives to drive growth across Copart’s complementary lines of business, including Purple Wave and National Powersport Auctions (NPA). 

Steve began his career with Copart over 40 years ago, most recently serving as the company’s COO, a role in which he led major initiatives such as real estate acquisition and development, catastrophic event response and the development of our logistics fleet. Prior to his role as COO, Steve was VP of Operations for Copart’s Eastern Division.

Dave Kang, Chief Marketing Officer

Dave leads Copart’s marketing functions, including marketing analytics, brand, communications, digital, and global member development as well as leading our Cash for Cars business.  

Dave has extensive experience in marketing and data analytics, serving most recently as SVP, Data Insights and CMO, Consumer Auto Finance at Capital One.  Prior to Capital One he held various leadership positions at McKinsey & Co, supporting clients across the firms Travel, Transportation and Logistics practice.  Dave holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in economics and statistics from Harvard University.

Neel Madhvani, Chief Product Officer

Neel leads Copart’s new product development initiatives, in close partnership with sales, marketing, operations and technology.  

Neel has extensive product development experience, serving most recently as VP, Product at Chewy and previously in product development, marketing, strategy, and innovation roles at Boxed and Staples.  Neel holds an MBA and an MS in Information Systems from the Questrom School of Business at Boston University and a bachelor’s degree in writing from Johns Hopkins University. 

Hessel Verhage, Chief Operating Officer

Hessel leads Copart’s operations across more than 200 locations, optimizing processes and technology to ensure excellent service for Copart’s sellers and members. 

Hessel brings extensive operational leadership experience to Copart. Most recently, he served as an executive at DB Schenker, where he led their global contract logistics operations. Hessel is a veteran of the US Army and holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from East Carolina University.

Copart’s Co-CEO Jeff Liaw said: “I’m delighted to appoint these four exceptional leaders to their new positions. Steve Powers is a respected leader and has served Copart and its predecessor companies for more than 40 years. He brings invaluable knowledge, experience, and relationships to drive our continued growth.”

He added: “I’m also excited about appointing Dave, Neel and Hessel to their new roles. Dave brings extensive experience in marketing and auto finance; Neel brings relevant experience to develop our Product capabilities; and Hessel brings substantial operational leadership experience to our team. They and the exceptional people on their teams will help drive our company forward.”

About Copart
Copart, Inc., founded in 1982, is a global leader in online vehicle auctions. Copart’s innovative technology and online auction platform links sellers to more than 750,000 Members in over 170 countries. The company offers services to process and sell salvage and clean title vehicles to dealers, dismantlers, rebuilders, exporters and, in some cases, to end users. Copart sells vehicles on behalf of insurance companies, banks, finance companies, charities, fleet operators, dealers, and individual owners. With operations at over 200 locations in 11 countries, Copart has more than 170,000 vehicles available online every day. Copart currently operates in the United States (Copart.com), Canada (Copart.ca), the United Kingdom (Copart.co.uk), the Republic of Ireland (Copart.ie), Brazil (Copart.com.br), Germany (Copart.de), Finland (Copart.fi), the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain (Copartmea.com), and Spain (Copart.es). For more information, or to become a member, visit Copart.com/Register.

Cautionary Note About Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws, and these forward-looking statements are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied by our statements and comments. For a more complete discussion of the risks that could affect our business, please review the “Management's Discussion and Analysis” and the other risks identified in Copart’s latest Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We encourage investors to review these disclosures carefully. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time on our behalf.

Contact: Fatima Ali, [email protected]

SOURCE Copart, Inc.