Arthur K. Watson
| Arthur K. Watson | |
|---|---|
| 21st United States Ambassador to France | |
|
In office May 6, 1970 – October 30, 1972 |
|
| President | Richard Nixon |
| Preceded by | Sargent Shriver |
| Succeeded by | John N. Irwin, II |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Arthur Kittredge Watson April 23, 1919 Summit, New Jersey |
| Died | July 26, 1974 (aged 55) New Canaan, Connecticut |
| Education |
The Hotchkiss School Yale University |
Arthur Kittredge "Dick" Watson (April 23, 1919 – July 26, 1974) served as president of IBM World Trade Corporation and United States Ambassador to France.
His father, Thomas J. Watson, was IBM's founder and oversaw that company's growth into an international force from the 1920s to the 1950s. His brother Thomas J. Watson, Jr. was the president of IBM from 1952 to 1971 and United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union.
Arthur K. Watson–known as "Dick" by his friends and colleagues–was born in Summit, New Jersey. He attended The Hotchkiss School and Yale University.
In the late 1940s, Watson assisted his father, IBM's president Thomas J. Watson, Sr., in the incorporation and organization of the IBM World Trade Corporation – the subsidiary which handled IBM's business outside the United States. As president and later board chairman of the IBM World Trade Corporation, Dick Watson expanded its operations throughout the world. During his 21 years of leadership, he spent a large part of his time traveling abroad, often accompanied by his family. He established numerous new country operations, selected managers and guided the expansion of the international businesses.
When he began in IBM in February 1947, Dick Watson spoke fluent French. During the next five years of his business career, he spent more than an hour a day to master Spanish and German, and to develop a working knowledge of Portuguese. These linguistic skills were a major asset to Watson throughout his international career.
At the time Watson joined the IBM World Trade Corporation subsidiary upon its formation in 1949, IBM sales outside the United States were less than $50 million. When he resigned in 1970 to become Ambassador to France, IBM World Trade Corporation sales had grown to more than $2.5 billion, and the company had established business operations in 108 countries. By then, net income from World Trade operations equaled those of the U.S. company.
From his first European business trip with his father in 1948, Dick Watson held to a conviction that Western Europe would eventually emerge in the postwar period as a united economic community. He supported the formation of the European Economic Community and made sure that the IBM World Trade Corporation was one of the first U.S.-based companies to build up its manufacturing and development capabilities within the Common Market.
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