John May
CEO of John Deere
Education
- Master of Business Administration (MBA) - University of Maine
- Bachelor of Science (BS) - University of New Hampshire
Overview
John C. May is the CEO of John Deere . He is responsible for leading a team of more than 83,000 employees in 30-plus countries on a journey to unlock customer value and revolutionize the industries in which we compete.
As Chairman and CEO, he is focused on the execution of the company’s Smart Industrial strategy, which accelerates the integration of advanced technology with Deere's legacy of manufacturing excellence. The strategy’s areas of focus include aligning operations by production systems, or the ways our customers work, delivering breakthrough technologies through an intuitive technology stack, and enriching the customer ownership experience over a product’s entire lifecycle.
Under May’s leadership the company’s market capitalization has more than doubled, exceeding $100 billion for the first time. With 2023 revenues of $61 billion, the Moline, Illinois-based company is a world leader in providing advanced products, technology, and services for customers whose work is revolutionizing agriculture and construction.
May became the company’s Chief Executive Officer in November 2019 and assumed the position of Chairman in May 2020. He was named President & Chief Operating Officer earlier in 2019. Previously, May was President, Worldwide Agriculture & Turf Division, with responsibility for the Americas and Australia, as well as for the global harvesting, turf and utility, crop care, and intelligent solutions businesses. He also served as Chief Information Officer and as President, Agricultural Solutions. In these roles, he led initiatives to develop the Deere family of smart machines, systems, and solutions to unlock customer economic value through enhanced precision, automation, speed, and efficiency.
Earlier duties included Vice President, Global Turf & Utility platform, and Managing Director of Deere’s China operations during a period of significant growth. May also managed the company’s construction equipment factory in Dubuque, Iowa. He became part of the senior management team in 2012.
He joined John Deere in 1997 after working as a management consultant at KPMG Peat Marwick.
Early Life
Career
- Deere & Co - CEO