Brad Jacobs has long been recognized as one of America’s most relentless dealmakers, quietly assembling Fortune 500-scale businesses through disciplined roll-ups across fragmented industries. Despite his success, his name likely hadn’t been on the minds of those working in the roofing industry before QXO began courting Beacon. 

Starting in the late 1980s with United Waste Systems, which he took public in 1992, Jacobs perfected a formula: identify a sprawling, underpenetrated market ripe for consolidation, pay a fair price for acquisitions, swiftly integrate acquired assets under a single brand, and drive organic growth through operational excellence—yielding outsized shareholder returns.

After founding United Rentals in 1997 and transforming it into the world’s largest equipment-rental company within 13 months (a position it still holds today), Jacobs established XPO Logistics in 2011, growing it to nearly $20 billion in revenue before two spin-offs in 2021 and 2022. 

In early 2025, Jacobs turned his attention to the $800 billion global building-products distribution sector via QXO Inc., a vehicle he launched in December 2023 with nearly $1 billion of his own money.

He made his intentions clear by offering Beacon Building Supply stockholders a premium on all outstanding shares as part of an $11 billion bid. After initial resistance from Beacon’s board of directors, merger discussions began by March. 

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Jacobs completed the deal in April, finishing the integration within nine weeks and shifting capital to frontline roles. 

His reputation for “bat‑signal” clarity—swift rebranding, immediate system unification, and transparent town‑hall communications—has won praise even among former Beacon employees, who lauded his inclusive approach to integration. 

As he stakes his legacy on doubling Beacon’s EBITDA within five years—more acquisitions are surely in the mix—the industry is watching to see how this seasoned “takeover king” adapts his proven playbook to the roofing sector. This interview, initially conducted for Roofing Contractor’s sister publication, Engineering News-Record (ENR), has been edited for length.

Roofing Supply Pro: From waste to rentals to logistics to building products, what core M&A principles have guided you throughout your career?

Brad Jacobs: M&A involves a lot of little things, but ultimately its success comes down to a few big things: You have to pay a good price, improve the margins through operational excellence and grow the top line organically above market rate. We always talk to multiple targets at once, because it helps us see the best opportunities. We pick industries where the M&A targets are all benefiting from long-term tailwinds. In building products, the average home is 40-plus years old. The average commercial building is even older, at 50-plus years old. [Roofing] is 80% repair and remodel. A roof is a non-discretionary purchase. If your roof leaks, it needs to be fixed. 

When you rebranded Beacon to QXO so quickly, how did you earn buy‑in from long‑time employees and customers?

Even before we closed the deal, we asked every employee to rate their level of satisfaction on a scale of 1 to 10, and if their satisfaction wasn’t a 10, what would it take to make it a 10. We did Zooms and town halls and branch visits immediately, engaged with employees on social media and I gave out my email address right away. It was a big wave of positivity, and the morale of the organization went way, way up. When you're doing an acquisition, it's change; as the saying goes, nobody likes to have their cheese moved. You have to appreciate that, and the way to resolve it is very clear: two-way communication. 

Was there any hesitation about replacing a nearly century-old brand with a single global identity?

Sellers often plead, ‘Don’t change our name,’ because of deep customer loyalty. But we’ve learned that one global brand delivers consistent service standards, boosts employee morale, and aligns everyone behind the same north star. A single name accelerates our cultural integration … and signals to customers and suppliers that they’ll get the same high quality everywhere.

Roofing remains a relationship-driven business that has been—until recently—a laggard in tech adoption. Is there any concern about losing talent by relying too heavily on technology?

Technology has been a consistent thread across all my businesses for decades; however, it’s all about the people, and it’ll remain that way. We’re gaining talent because of our focus on technology—and contractors want to work with us because of that focus across all functions. The focus is on intelligent automation, replacing manual tasks with AI-augmented decision-making in procurement, pricing, sales, inventory, and operations … that frees up our people to do what they do best. Salespeople can go out and sell—with technology as their friend, not their foe. And people in our branches can be empowered by technology so they can delight customers every single day.

Would you characterize your employees’ introduction to a tech-focused model in a traditionally late-adopting business as a net gain?

Absolutely. Technology will be central to driving an experience that delights our customers, and our employee base loves to please them. Happy customer, happy salesperson. And tech—tech is their friend. Everyone is adopting tech in their personal lives. They’re hungry for this. Look at the ERP upgrade we’re doing: Beacon had a solid one ERP system, which was a big advantage—not having many different ERP systems—but it was an old one. We’re upgrading that to a cutting-edge, contemporary ERP system, and the employees are so happy about that. The legacy ERP lacked margin visibility, live inventory, SKU-level forecasting. Most branches operated without barcode scanning, real-time order management or a functioning warehouse management system. We’re not patching legacy systems. We’re leapfrogging the industry by combining proprietary tools with best-in-class platforms.

What digital or automation innovations from your “tech‑forward” playbook are you deploying at QXO?

We’re embedding sophisticated tools everywhere. Dynamic pricing engines adjust in real-time based on elasticity curves and customer-level profitability. Agentic AI helps our sales force prioritize leads and optimize margins. A next‑gen data lake and ERP layer drive live P&L dashboards. Machine‑learning forecasts boost item availability. Barcode-driven WMS [warehouse management system] and AI-powered TMS [transportation management systems] standardize warehouse workflows and delivery routes. Even our new POS [point-of-sale] system offers voice‑to‑text entry, real‑time margin visibility, and full CRM integration.

Within the short window since closing, where has QXO already seen gains through tech adoption, and to what end?

Sales enablement is getting a major upgrade. Lead generation from our “win room” is live and already winning. We rebalanced SKUs, focusing on the 4% of SKUs that drive 80% of our sales and our in-stock rates are improving. We’re able to say yes to customers more. Our target is to double the legacy Beacon EBITDA organically within five years. On pricing, we’ve aligned sales incentives with margin outcomes and are capturing more value in every transaction. Procurement is leveraging scale with centralized buying power. We want to be the low-cost provider. We’re investing at the branch level and other parts of the field, which I believe will make a real difference.

How have evolving regulatory and ESG expectations shaped your investments in emissions reduction, waste diversion, and worker safety?

Requirements change over time, and we’ve always met or exceeded them. Safety sits at the top of our core values: every branch holds an annual "safety stand‑down" plus weekly huddles. We invest in injury-free workplaces, discrimination-free cultures, and employee well-being, both emotional and physical. Our goal is zero accidents, and we back it with capital, technology and training to ensure every facility outperforms industry and regulatory standards. 

What advice would you give to contractors, owners and equipment manufacturers looking to innovate?

Once you identify the levers to pull, you can quickly be an innovator in your industry. My advice would be to think big, think clearly and move very fast, executing that vision.

The next two questions come from Publisher Jill Bloom, who wanted to join us but was unable due to a previously planned trip: “Do you ever take a day off?”

I don’t view work as work—it’s fun. I love the people, the challenges, and the thrill of building a winning team. Every day feels like a day off because I’m doing what I enjoy alongside colleagues I trust and respect. 

How do you want to be remembered—as a leader and a person?

I hope I’m remembered for building a playbook that creates outrageously high shareholder value through a rinse, wash and repeat strategy in industries that are growing, fragmented and where there’s a good opportunity for M&A. I would like to be known as somebody who spots a big trend early and then aligns employees, shareholders and customers behind it. And I’m proud that I’ve employed hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people and gave them the opportunity to make fantastic livings and provide for their families. If a roofing contractor recalls that we were hyper-focused on delighting our customers, I’ll consider that success. Personally, I want to be known for unwavering integrity: treating people with dignity, empowering talent, doing the right thing, and building cultures where everyone can excel—where I’ve spotted and nurtured potential others didn’t even see in themselves.

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