Industry & Services >> CEO Interviews >> October 4, 1999
J. DAVID PITT was brought up and educated in England. He was awarded a
First Class Honors degree in Economics and Business. Most of his
business career has been with Massey-Ferguson ' the world leader in
tractor sales outside North America. Mr. Pitt worked with Massey-
Ferguson in finance and marketing positions in England, Switzerland and
Australia, before moving to Corporate Headquarters in Toronto, Canada in
1979. At HQ, he was heavily involved in various financial restructurings
of the company brought by the collapse of the farm machinery markets in
the early 1980's and the consequent worldwide rationalization of
manufacturing capacity. Mr. Pitt was appointed President of the Massey-
Ferguson North American Operations in 1987 and moved to Des Moines,
Iowa. The North American companies had historically been in fragile
financial health with poor market shares in tractors. The company was
restored to profitability and market shares dramatically improved. It's
holding company, Varity Corp. had meanwhile diversified itself from farm
machinery and diesel engines into automotive componentry, with
particular emphasis on ABS brake systems. This in turn required
significant capital outlays to support the growth in that business and
so Massey-Ferguson's North American Operations were sold to AGCO in
1993. He then had an 18-month spell with Massey-Ferguson's Italian
Operations, essentially restructuring a very messy minority ownership
position by bringing in Japanese partners and new Italian investors.
Varity then decided to sell the balance of Massey-Ferguson and this was
achieved in 1995. In 1996, Mr. Pitt was asked by the Chairman of the
Board at Art's-Way to provide an outside opinion on various strategic
options for the company. The report culminated in him being appointed
President of Art's-Way in April 1996. Profile
Art's-Way just to kind of set the stage for the readers?
Mr. Pitt: Yes, certainly. Art's-Way has been in business for 43
