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RB Global, Inc.
RB Global runs online marketplaces that help people buy and sell heavy equipment and trucks around the world.
RB Global is a giant online marketplace for the kind of machines that do heavy work: excavators, bulldozers, cranes, dump trucks, and farm equipment. If a construction company goes bust or a rental fleet gets too old, those machines need to find new owners, and RB Global is one of the biggest places in the world where that happens. It sells through live auctions, timed online auctions, and a growing list of digital marketplaces, connecting sellers who want a fair price with buyers hunting for used iron at a discount.
The company makes money by taking a cut of each sale. Sellers pay a commission, buyers pay fees, and RB Global also earns from services like inspections, financing, shipping, and title handling. It runs several brands under one roof. The best known is Ritchie Bros., the auction house that built the business and still runs huge live events where hundreds of machines sit in a field and bidders raise their hands or click online. Then there is IAA, which auctions damaged and totaled cars for insurers, and Rouse Services, which tracks equipment values and rents out data. Add in smaller marketplaces like Equipmenton and the picture is clear: RB Global wants to be the default place where any used commercial asset changes hands. The core strength is liquidity. A single excavator is hard to sell because only a few local buyers want it. Put it in front of bidders from dozens of countries, and the price goes up. That is why sellers keep coming back and why buyers trust the process. The company also owns a mountain of data on what things are worth, which helps it price assets and spot trends before rivals do.
The business has grown largely by buying other marketplaces. In 2023 it swallowed IAA, a car-salvage auction company, in a deal worth billions, roughly doubling its size and pushing it deeper into vehicles. That bet came with debt and some integration headaches, but it also gave RB Global a second big engine alongside heavy equipment. Today the company is headquartered in the Chicago area, though its roots are Canadian, and it earns most of its money in North America while expanding in Europe and Asia. The simple version: it is the eBay of big machines and wrecked cars, and it gets paid every time something sells.
Saved answer · last researched 12 Nov 2026