Deere & Company

AgriculturalFounded 1837- HQ today: Moline, Illinois

Leadership History

John Deere: CEO History

4 leaders · 1989 to present

Who is the CEO of John Deere?

John C. May is the CEO of John Deere, in the role since 2019. The first chief executive was Hans W. Becherer, from 1989.

Current CEO: John C. May (since 2019)
First CEO: Hans W. Becherer (1989)
Leaders documented: 4
Founded: 1837

Name	Role	From	To	Years in role
John C. May	Chairman and Chief Executive Officer	2019	Present	7
Samuel R. Allen	Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer	2009	2019	10
Robert W. Lane	Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer	2000	2009	9
Hans W. Becherer	Chairman and Chief Executive Officer	1989	2000	11

Who was CEO of John Deere before John C. May?: Samuel R. Allen was CEO of John Deere from 2009 to 2019, before John C. May took over in 2019.

Company Overview

Deere & Company, headquartered in Moline, Illinois, sells equipment under the John Deere brand and trades on the NYSE as DE. It reported $45.7 billion of FY2025 revenue with 73,146 employees and had a market value of about $187 billion in late September 2026. The company combines heavy manufacturing with GPS guidance, machine connectivity, computer vision, and financing, so a modern Deere tractor or sprayer is as much a data and software platform as a piece of steel. The absolute global titan of agricultural machinery was founded in Illinois in 1837, inventing the self-scouring steel plow before evolving into a massive, highly controversial tech company dominating precision farming.

John C. May

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

2019 – Present

7 years (current)

Key Decisions & Impact

John C. May became Deere's chief executive officer effective November 4, 2019, and later added the chairman role in May 2020. His major leadership decision has been to frame Deere as a smart-industrial company organized around customer production systems rather than only traditional equipment categories. That approach connects tractors, combines, sprayers, construction machines, software, telematics, finance, parts, and dealer service into a lifecycle model. May has also kept Deere investing in autonomy, machine learning, precision spraying, digital operations, and recurring service capability while managing a cyclical downturn in large agricultural equipment demand.

Legacy

May's contribution is making Deere's technology strategy commercially central instead of treating precision agriculture as an accessory to machines. His background in agricultural solutions and information technology helps explain why Deere under his leadership emphasizes Operations Center, machine connectivity, See & Spray, autonomous field work, and lifecycle support. He also has had to prove that Deere can preserve margins and dealer discipline when farm income, rates, tariffs, and inventories pressure new-equipment sales.

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Samuel R. Allen

Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

2009 – 2019

10 years

Key Decisions & Impact

Samuel R. Allen led Deere as chief executive officer from 2009 to 2019 and served as chairman from 2010 to 2020. His tenure covered the post-financial-crisis recovery, a strong global agricultural cycle, and later commodity-cycle pressure. Allen's most visible capital-allocation decision was the 2017 agreement to acquire Wirtgen Group, a road-construction equipment company that broadened Deere's Construction and Forestry segment and reduced the company's reliance on crop-driven farm machinery cycles. He also supported investments in precision agriculture and advanced mobile equipment technologies that positioned Deere for the May-era smart-industrial strategy.

Legacy

Allen's contribution was to internationalize and diversify Deere while preserving the company's premium equipment brand and dealer economics. His background across construction, forestry, power systems, agricultural operations, intelligent mobile equipment, human resources, credit, and global regions gave him a broad operating view of Deere's portfolio. By the end of his CEO period, Deere had both a larger construction platform through Wirtgen and a stronger technology base through deals such as Blue River Technology.

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Robert W. Lane

Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

2000 – 2009

9 years

Key Decisions & Impact

Robert W. Lane became Deere's chief executive in 2000 and chaired the company during a period focused on asset discipline, global expansion, and better returns across cyclical equipment markets. He pushed Deere to manage inventories, receivables, and invested capital more rigorously instead of chasing sales growth alone. Lane also emphasized international growth opportunities in markets such as Brazil, India, China, and other agricultural regions, while modernizing factories and upgrading dealer capabilities to support increasingly sophisticated customers.

Legacy

Lane's contribution was managerial modernization. He helped Deere move from a proud equipment maker with uneven cyclicality toward a more disciplined global manufacturer that measured returns, working capital, and customer support more tightly. That mattered for later leaders because precision agriculture, construction expansion, and financing all require strong capital discipline: expensive machines, dealer inventory, credit exposure, and long service relationships can create value only if the company manages the balance sheet and operating system carefully.

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Hans W. Becherer

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

1989 – 2000

11 years

Key Decisions & Impact

Becherer became chief executive in 1989 and expanded Deere outside North America and into financial services.

Legacy

Deere reached record sales in the late 1990s. Robert Lane succeeded him in 2000.

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Challenges & Strategic Context

Deere faces a multi-year downturn in large agricultural equipment, weak crop prices and farm income, tariff-driven input costs, dealer inventory management, construction cyclicality, financing credit risk, and a 2026 FTC settlement that opens its repair tools to farmers and independent shops for 10 years.

John Deere CEO and Leadership FAQ

Who is John C. May and what is his leadership background as CEO of Deere & Company?

John C. May is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Deere & Company, appointed in November 2019. With a degree in management information systems from the University of New Hampshire and an MBA from the University of Maine, May joined Deere in 1997, leading Intelligent Solutions (ISG) and Agriculture operations to pioneer modern precision ag.

What major strategic transformations has John C. May executed at John Deere?

Under John C. May, Deere launched the Smart Industrial operating model, unveiled the autonomous 8R tractor and See & Spray, acquired Bear Flag Robotics, Kreisel Electric, and SparkAI, signed a Starlink connectivity agreement, delivered record FY2023 revenue of $61.3 billion, and settled the FTC right-to-repair case in July 2026.

Who was Samuel R. Allen and what was his impact as CEO from 2009 to 2019?

Samuel R. Allen served as CEO for a decade, guiding Deere through the post-2008 global financial crisis, executing the historic $5.2 billion acquisition of Wirtgen Group in 2017, and establishing foundational investments in cloud computing and data analytics.

Who was Robert W. Lane and what were his achievements as CEO from 2000 to 2009?

Robert W. Lane served as CEO from 2000 to 2009, introducing the 'Shareholder Value Added' (SVA) financial discipline, reorganizing Deere's manufacturing into a global, lean, asset-efficient enterprise, and earning international acclaim for corporate governance.

Who was Hans Becherer and what was his impact as CEO in the 1990s?

Hans Becherer served as CEO from 1989 to 2000, driving large international expansion across Europe and Latin America and establishing Deere's early investments in GPS satellite guidance systems for agriculture.

Who was William Hewitt and why is he revered as the last member of the Deere family to lead the company?

William Hewitt (husband of founder John Deere's great-great-granddaughter) served as CEO from 1955 to 1982. Hewitt transformed Deere from a domestic tractor maker into a global multinational giant, commissioned Eero Saarinen to design the well-known Moline headquarters, and launched the New Generation of Power 4- and 6-cylinder tractors in 1960.

Who is Jahmy Hindman and what is his role as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of John Deere?

Dr. Jahmy Hindman serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of John Deere, leading the global engineering teams responsible for autonomous guidance algorithms, computer vision, robotics, electrification, and cloud software architectures.

How does Deere & Company's Board of Directors maintain corporate governance?

Deere & Company's Board of Directors features independent global business leaders from manufacturing, aerospace, software, and finance, maintaining rigorous oversight of corporate strategy, capital allocation, executive compensation, and ESG metrics.

Who is the CEO of John Deere?

John C. May serves as CEO, taking over in 2019. He has completely revolutionized the company's image. Under his leadership, John Deere stopped attending traditional farm shows and started attending CES (the massive tech show in Vegas), successfully convincing Wall Street that Deere is a highly advanced AI and robotics company, not just a legacy metal manufacturer.

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