John D. deButts
{{Short description|American businessman (1915–1986)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = John D. deButts
| birth_date = {{birth date|1915|04|10}}
| birth_place = Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1986|12|18|1915|04|10}}
| image = Image from page 59 of "Bell telephone magazine" (1922).jpg
| caption = deButts in 1972
| death_place = Winchester, Virginia, U.S.
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| occupation = Chairman & CEO at
AT&T (1972–1979)
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}}
John Dulany deButts (April 10, 1915 – December 18, 1986) was an American businessman. He served as the chairman and chief executive officer of AT&T from 1972 to 1979.Eric N. Berg, [https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/18/obituaries/john-d-debutts-ex-chairman-of-at-t-is-dead.html John D. deButts, Ex-Chairman of A.T.&T., Is Dead], The New York Times, December 18, 1986[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304073111/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1986-12-21/news/8604050228_1_illinois-department-national-office-chicago John D. deButts, 71, former chairman and chief executive...], The Chicago Tribune, December 21, 1986[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-12-19-me-3367-story.html John deButts, Former AT&T Chief, Dies : Opposed U.S. Action to Break Up Communications Conglomerate], The Los Angeles Times, December 19, 1986
Biography
After graduating from high school, he enrolled in the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, where he studied electrical engineering. He received a bachelor's degree in 1936. He served as president of Illinois Bell. From 1972 to 1979, he served as chairman and CEO of AT&T. He objected to the United States federal government's antitrust efforts to break up AT&T. In 1984, he was dismayed by the decision to break up the Bell System's twenty-three operating companies.
In 1976, deButts received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=American Academy of Achievement|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#business}}
He served as chairman of The Business Council from 1977 to 1978.[http://www.thebusinesscouncil.org/about/background.aspx The Business Council, Official website, Background] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213615/http://www.thebusinesscouncil.org/about/background.aspx |date=2016-03-03 }}
He resided in a family farm in Upperville, Virginia. He died of a heart attack in Winchester, Virginia, on December 18, 1986.
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