ITT Engineered Valves
Industrial valve brand
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
ITT Inc. is an American industrial manufacturing company whose modern business is built around highly engineered components and systems rather than the broad telecommunications and consumer conglomerate associated with the historic ITT Corporation. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, and serves customers in more than 100 countries through operations spanning numerous countries and a workforce of more than 10,000 people. Its principal business units are Industrial Process, Motion Technologies, and Connect & Control Technologies. The company originated on June 16, 1920, when brothers Hernand Behn and Sosthenes Behn established International Telephone & Telegraph Corporation in Maryland. The early enterprise expanded rapidly through acquisitions of telephone, telegraph, cable, radio, and equipment businesses in the Americas and Europe. Among its important early developments was the consolidation of Spanish telephone operations that became Telefónica. ITT also acquired international manufacturing operations formerly associated with Western Electric, building a multinational telecommunications-equipment network. Under Harold Geneen, who became chief executive in 1959, ITT became one of the best-known diversified conglomerates of the 1960s and 1970s. Geneen used acquisitions to move beyond telecommunications into hotels, rental cars, baking, insurance, schools, electronics, automotive components, energy, and other sectors. Businesses associated with the conglomerate included Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Avis, Continental Baking, Hartford Insurance interests, and Levitt & Sons. This strategy generated substantial scale but also attracted antitrust scrutiny and exposed the group to the difficulties of managing widely unrelated businesses. ITT's historical record also includes politically and ethically controversial episodes. Its German subsidiaries operated during the Nazi period, and historians and postwar investigations examined relationships involving German corporate entities, wartime production, and payments allegedly connected with SS leader Heinrich Himmler. In the United States, ITT became embroiled in the 1972 Republican National Convention controversy after a proposed company contribution was linked in a leaked memorandum to an antitrust settlement. The company withdrew its support, and a subsequent investigation did not establish criminal conduct by ITT. The company began a decisive transformation in the 1980s. It divested its telecommunications assets in 1986, and in 1995 sold its hospitality portfolio, including Sheraton. In 1996, the present industrial company emerged from a spinoff as ITT Industries, Inc. It adopted the ITT Corporation name in 2006. In 2011, the company separated its defense businesses into Exelis and its water-technology activities into Xylem, creating the focused industrial portfolio that defines the present company. The name changed from ITT Corporation to ITT Inc. in 2016. Today, ITT's product portfolio includes pumps and engineered fluid-management equipment sold under Goulds Pumps and related brands; shock absorbers and damping technologies under KONI; energy-absorption and isolation products under Enidine; and connectors and interconnect systems under Cannon. These products support aerospace and defense, rail and other transportation, energy, chemical and general industrial processing, water-related applications, and other demanding environments. ITT positions itself around application engineering, reliability, precision manufacturing, and the ability to supply technically specialized components that operate under severe mechanical, thermal, pressure, or environmental conditions.
History
International Telephone & Telegraph was founded in Maryland on June 16, 1920, by Hernand Behn and Sosthenes Behn. The brothers had earlier acquired telephone interests in Puerto Rico and Cuba and used those assets as a base for international expansion. During the 1920s, ITT assembled telephone, telegraph, radio, cable, and manufacturing companies in the Americas and Europe. Its Spanish operations were consolidated into the company that became Telefónica, while acquisitions from Western Electric gave ITT a large international equipment-manufacturing presence. The group continued expanding during the interwar period, acquiring companies in Germany, Romania, France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere. Its subsidiaries produced switching equipment, cables, radio systems, and related telecommunications technologies. ITT's international structure also placed it in politically difficult environments. Its German subsidiaries continued operating during the Nazi era, and later investigations and historical works debated the extent and character of the group's financial and industrial relationships with German entities, including Focke-Wulf and organizations associated with the SS. These matters remain an important part of the historical assessment of the former conglomerate. After World War II, ITT broadened its technology interests. It acquired the television business associated with inventor Philo Farnsworth in 1951, obtained control of Kellogg Switchboard & Supply, and maintained a substantial international telecommunications-manufacturing network. ITT also funded Farnsworth's fusion research for a period. In communications science, employees and affiliated businesses contributed to developments in pulse-code modulation and optical-fiber communications, although these achievements were distributed across the wider ITT corporate system and its subsidiaries. Harold Geneen's appointment as chief executive in 1959 marked the beginning of ITT's most aggressive conglomerate phase. Through hundreds of acquisitions, often financed with leverage, the company entered hotels, car rental, baking, insurance, education, housing, electronics, automotive components, and other fields. Major transactions included the acquisition of Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Continental Baking, Avis-related interests, Levitt & Sons, and KONI. ITT also developed Palm Coast in Florida as a large master-planned community through its Community Development Corporation. The breadth of the strategy made ITT an emblem of the diversified conglomerate, but rising interest rates and the complexity of the portfolio weakened the model. The company faced regulatory and political challenges during this period. The proposed 1965 acquisition of ABC was stopped by federal antitrust regulators. In 1970, the Justice Department challenged ITT's attempted acquisition of Hartford Insurance; the dispute was resolved through a divestiture arrangement. The 1962 expropriation of an ITT telephone subsidiary in Brazil became a prominent bilateral issue. The 1972 convention-financing controversy further damaged the company's public image, although a special prosecutor concluded that the available evidence did not establish criminal wrongdoing by ITT. Beginning in the 1980s, ITT moved away from the conglomerate model. It divested its telecommunications assets in 1986 and sold its hospitality portfolio, including Sheraton, in 1995. The current industrial company was created through a 1996 spinoff as ITT Industries. It changed its name to ITT Corporation in 2006. In 2011, the defense and water businesses were separated into Exelis and Xylem, respectively. Exelis was subsequently acquired by Harris Corporation and became part of L3Harris Technologies. ITT changed its name to ITT Inc. in 2016. The present ITT is a focused manufacturer organized around Industrial Process, Motion Technologies, and Connect & Control Technologies. Its brands include Goulds Pumps, Cannon, KONI, and Enidine. The company supplies engineered products for aerospace, defense, rail and other transportation, energy, chemical processing, water-related applications, and general industry. This strategy emphasizes technically demanding niches, global manufacturing, and long-lived industrial relationships rather than ownership of unrelated consumer and service businesses.
- 2016
Company becomes ITT Inc.
[1]The focused industrial manufacturer adopts the ITT Inc. name.
- 2011
Defense and water businesses are spun off
[1]Exelis and Xylem are formed from ITT's defense and water-technology activities.
- 1996
ITT Industries is created
[1]The present industrial company emerges from a spinoff as ITT Industries, Inc.
- 1995
Hospitality portfolio is sold
[1]The company divests Sheraton and other hospitality holdings.
- 1986
Telecommunications assets are divested
[1]ITT sells or separates much of the telecommunications business that defined its original identity.
- 1972
Republican convention controversy
[1]ITT withdraws promised convention support after a leaked memorandum leads to scrutiny of a possible relationship with an antitrust settlement.
- 1968
Expansion into hotels and planned communities
[1]ITT acquires Sheraton and Levitt & Sons and begins developing Palm Coast, Florida.
- 1962
Brazilian telephone subsidiary is expropriated
[1]Rio Grande do Sul takes control of Companhia Telefônica Nacional, triggering a significant political dispute.
- 1959
Harold Geneen becomes chief executive
[1]Geneen begins the acquisition-led diversification that turns ITT into a prominent global conglomerate.
- 1951
Acquisition of Farnsworth's television company
[1]ITT purchases Philo Farnsworth's television business as part of its postwar technology expansion.
Products and positioning
Specialized industrial technology provider focused on engineered components, reliability, and mission-critical motion, fluid, and connectivity applications.
Industrial process and fluid handling
Goulds Pumps
Goulds Pumps is one of ITT's best-known industrial brands. It supplies centrifugal and other engineered pump technologies for industrial processing, energy, chemical applications, water-related uses, and infrastructure. The offering is aimed at moving and managing fluids in demanding operating environments, with products selected for reliability, maintainability, corrosion resistance, and application-specific performance.
Connectors and interconnect systems
Cannon
Cannon develops electrical and electronic connectors and interconnect solutions for aerospace, defense, transportation, industrial, and other applications. Its products are used where secure signal, power, and data connections must withstand vibration, temperature variation, contamination, or other demanding conditions. The brand forms a central part of ITT's Connect & Control Technologies business.
Motion technologies and shock absorbers · 1972
KONI
KONI produces shock absorbers and damping systems for transportation, rail, automotive, and industrial applications. Its technologies control movement and vibration, supporting ride quality, equipment protection, and operating stability. KONI became part of ITT during the conglomerate period and remains one of the company's established motion-technology brands.
Energy absorption and vibration control
Enidine
Enidine supplies energy-absorption, vibration-isolation, and motion-control components for aerospace, defense, transportation, and industrial customers. Its products are designed to manage shocks, vibration, impact energy, and structural movement in systems where component reliability and controlled mechanical response are important.
Controversies
1972
Republican National Convention financing controversy
A leaked internal memorandum appeared to associate ITT's proposed contribution toward hosting the Republican National Convention with the favorable resolution of an antitrust case. ITT withdrew its support, and special prosecutor Leon Jaworski concluded that there was not sufficient evidence of criminal conduct.
1933
German subsidiaries and Nazi-era relationships
Historical accounts and postwar investigations examined ITT's German subsidiaries, their wartime industrial interests, and alleged financial relationships involving SS-linked figures. The subject includes ITT's ownership interest in Focke-Wulf and allegations concerning payments connected with Heinrich Himmler. The evidence and interpretation have been debated in historical literature.
Brand decisions
2011
Separation of defense and water operationsStrategyBackground
ITT sought to create more focused companies from businesses with different customers, technologies, and capital requirements.
Action taken
The defense business was spun off as Exelis and the water-technology business as Xylem.
Aftermath
The remaining ITT became a specialized manufacturer centered on industrial process, motion, and connection technologies.
1986
Telecommunications divestitureStrategyBackground
The original telecommunications-centered structure had become difficult to manage alongside ITT's diversified holdings.
Action taken
ITT divested its telecommunications assets.
Aftermath
The move began the transition from international telephone conglomerate to a more diversified industrial group.
1970
Settlement of Hartford antitrust challengeOtherBackground
The Justice Department challenged ITT's attempt to acquire The Hartford insurance company.
Action taken
ITT agreed to divest assets equivalent to those associated with Hartford in order to resolve the antitrust dispute.
Aftermath
The settlement allowed the broader conglomerate strategy to continue while demonstrating the regulatory cost of large acquisitions.
1965
Abandonment of proposed ABC acquisitionOtherBackground
ITT attempted to acquire the ABC television network during a period of rapid conglomerate expansion.
Action taken
Federal antitrust regulators blocked the transaction, leading ITT to pursue diversification through other industries instead.
Aftermath
The episode illustrated the regulatory limits on ITT's expansion and encouraged further acquisition activity outside broadcasting.
Recent events
ITT withdraws 2020 guidance[4]
Reported:
ITT said it had decided to withdraw its previously communicated 2020 guidance because of uncertainties related to COVID-19.
Sources4 sources
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