Editing ITT Inc. (section)

===Beginnings and early acquisitions===
Brothers [[Hernan Behn]] and Colonel [[Sosthenes Behn]] formed International Telephone & Telegraph (ITT) in 1920. The brothers had acquired the [[Puerto Rico Telephone Company]] in 1914, along with the Cuban-American Telephone and Telegraph Company and a half-interest in the Cuban Telephone Company.<ref name=RSob2000>{{cite book|last=Sobel|first=Robert|title=ITT: The Management of Opportunity|year= 2000 |publisher= Beard Books|pages=35ff|title-link=ITT: The Management of Opportunity}}</ref><ref name=NBMac2009>{{cite book|last=Macintosh|first=Norman B.|title=Management Accounting and Control Systems|year= 2009 |publisher= John Wiley and Sons|pages=155–6|author2=Paolo Quattrone}}</ref><ref name=JNIng1983>{{cite book |last= Ingham|first=John N.|title=Biographical dictionary of American business leaders, Volume 1|year= 1983 |publisher= Greenwood Publishing Group|pages=62–4}}</ref> ITT's first major expansion came in 1923, when it consolidated operators in the telecoms market in Spain into what eventually became [[Telefónica]].<ref name="sampson">Sampson, Anthony. ''The Sovereign State of ITT, Hodder and Stoughton'', 1973. {{ISBN|0-340-17195-2}}</ref><ref>Garcia Algarra, Javier (2010). [https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5735280/;jsessionid=D68A01A68C303DF2D5AA74A0DF38756C?arnumber=5735280 "The American influence in Telefónica's public relations strategy during the 20s and 30s"], IEEE HISTELCON 2010</ref> From 1922 to 1925, ITT purchased a number{{Which|date=January 2020}} of European telephone companies.

In 1925, ITT purchased several companies from [[Western Electric]], as [[Bell System|Bell]] had agreed to "divest" itself of its international operations. They included the [[Bell Telephone Manufacturing Company]] (BTM) of Antwerp, Belgium, which manufactured [[rotary system]] switching-equipment, and the British ''International Western Electric'', which was renamed [[Standard Telephones and Cables]] (STC). [[Compagnie Générale d'Electricité]] later purchased BTM; [[Nortel]] later purchased STC.

In the 1930s, ITT purchased German electronic companies Standard Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft (SEG) and [[Mix & Genest]] (both of which were internationally active companies) and Romanian telecommunications monopoly [[Romtelecom|Societatea Anonima Română de Telefoane]]. Its only serious rival was the [[Theodore Gary & Company]] conglomerate, which operated a subsidiary, Associated Telephone and Telegraph, with manufacturing plants in Europe.

In the United States, ITT acquired the various companies of the [[Mackay Radio|Mackay Companies]] in 1928 through a specially organized subsidiary corporation, [[Postal Telegraph Company|Postal Telegraph & Cable]]. These companies included the [[Commercial Cable Company]], the [[Commercial Pacific Cable Company]], [[Postal Telegraph]], and the [[Federal Telegraph Company]].

[[File:75 Broad SW door jeh.JPG|thumb|200px|75 Broad Street, Manhattan, former headquarters of ITT]]
[[File:75 Broad SW door jeh detail.JPG|thumb|200px|Detail of door]]