Jennifer Hyman

Jennifer Hyman is the CEO and cofounder of Rent The Runway, a fashion and technology/logistics company that offers clothing, accessory, and home rentals from over 600 designer brands for women and kids via on-demand rentals and subscription. Rent the Runway has pioneered dynamic ownership in the fashion industry and amassed a huge customer following of 11million people.

Jennifer Hyman grew up in New Rochelle, New York, and attended New Rochelle High School. Hyman was recently inducted into the high school's wall of fame.

She received a BA in social studies from Harvard University in 2002.At Harvard, Hyman was the Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Crimson.

She later attended Harvard Business School, where she met co-founder of Rent the Runway Jennifer Fleiss, and graduated with an MBA in 2009.

Prior to Rent the Runway, Hyman was the Director of Business Development at IMG where she focused on the creation of new media businesses for IMG's Fashion Division. She also ran an online advertising sales team at WeddingChannel.com and was an employee at Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, creating Starwood’s first wedding business which was recognized on The Oprah Winfrey Show for its innovation.

Hyman co-founded Rent the Runway in 2009 growing the company to over 11 million members and over 1,800 employees. As CEO of Rent the Runway, Hyman sets the strategic priorities and leads the company in growing all areas of the business, including marketing, technology, merchandising, supply chain and data science. Rent the Runway’s employees are 93% female and/or non-white, with 80% of leaders who are women, including a female CEO, COO, CRO and CFO. Rent the Runway, has been honored as one of the best places to work in New York State by the New York State Society for Human Resource Management.

In March 2019, Rent the Runway closed a $125 million round co-led by Franklin Templeton and Bain Capital Ventures while Hyman was 9 months pregnant, bringing the total equity raised by Hyman to-date to $337 million. Valued at $1 billion, Rent the Runway is one of the few female-founded, female-led companies in history to reach this milestone.

Hyman participates in national conferences and panel discussions regarding such topics as the sharing economy, women in business, entrepreneurship, leadership, and company culture. Some of her past speaking engagements include NRF Foundation’s “Retail’s Big Show,” WWD’s Digital Forum and the 99U Conference.

Hyman has spoken out publicly against sexual harassment in the tech industry and went public with her own experience on CNBC's Squawk Alley in July 2017. Hyman called on Venture Capitalists to put an end to this behavior and encourages more women to become investors.

Her passion for gender equality in entrepreneurship and tech also drove her to establish the Rent the Runway Foundation and Project Entrepreneur early in her career. Project Entrepreneur was founded in partnership with UBS to help female entrepreneurs across the country gain access to the tools, training, and network they need to scale their businesses. The winning founders receive a $10,000 award, and a spot in the five-week accelerator program at Rent the Runway’s New York office. After completing the accelerator, companies have seen success in closing rounds of funding, media coverage and continuing on to other top tier accelerator programs. Hyman is an angel investor and advisor to many startups throughout the country.

In May 2018, Hyman published a New York Times op-ed titled “Treating Workers Fairly at Rent the Runway,” in which she announced that the company would equalize benefits across its salaried and hourly employees. RTR team members in the company’s warehouse and stores and on its customer service team now receive the same parental leave, family sick leave, bereavement leave and sabbatical packages as the company’s corporate employees.

Hyman serves on the Board of Directors of The Estée Lauder Companies, and on the Women.nyc Advisory Board, the pioneering initiative to keep New York the greatest city in the world for women.

Hyman has been honored with numerous recognitions including the “TIME 100” most influential people in the world 2019 , Fortune Magazine’s “Trailblazers 2013,” “Executive Dream Team,” “Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs,” and “40 Under 40”; Forbes Magazine’s “Disruptors 2013”; Crain’s New York Business “40 Under 40”; Inc. Magazine’s “Top 30 Under 30”; Fast Company’s “Most Influential Women in Technology” and “Most Creative People in Business” ; an Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” New York Area Regional finalist; the Tribeca Film Festival’s “Disruptive Innovation” award; Marie Claire’s New Guardand Fashionista.com’s “Most Influential People in New York Fashion.”

Under her leadership, Rent the Runway has been named to CNBC’s “Disruptor 50” five times in just nine years (most recently #5 in 2019) and Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies list multiple times.