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David M. "Dave" Cote (born July 19, 1952) is the Chairman and CEO of Honeywell.

Early life
David M. Cote was born in Manchester, New Hampshire and raised in Suncook. In the rural mill town, Cote's mother raised him and his four siblings (two brothers and two sisters), while Cote's father, worked 12-hour days, six days a week, operating an automobile service station.

Cote's first job was picking blueberries at age 6 for 50 cents a quart.

Cote's aptitude for finance became apparent at age 12. "When Dave was 12, I'd put him on the bus to Manchester with his big accordion and some cash," said his mother, Georgette Cote in a 2012 Fortune Magazine interview. "After his music lesson he'd go all over town paying all the bills, for the department store, for our insurance." Dave returned with the correct change and all the receipts, Mrs. Cote noted.

Cote graduated Pembroke Academy in 1970. In the fall, Cote enrolled at the University of New Hampshire. While attending UNH full-time, Cote worked nights at Sears as well as an hourly job on the night shift at a nearby GE jet engine plant. In 1973, he took a break from UNH. He and a friend bought a 33-foot boat and spent a year operating a commercial fishing business in Maine. After not finding the success they had hoped for, they sold the boat and Cote returned to the University of New Hampshire. Cote recalled the cod fishing business experience for Fortune Magazine in 2012, "It taught me that you can work very hard and get absolutely nowhere.".

In 1976, Cote graduated from the University of New Hampshire, where he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration.

General Electric
Following his graduation from the University of New Hampshire, Cote transitioned from night-shift hourly production worker at a General Electric aircraft-engine plant at Hooksett, New Hampshire to an internal auditor in Lynn, Massachusetts. In 1985, an unexpected meeting with CEO Jack Welch became the catalyst for Cote's advancement at GE. Welch promoted Cote three levels of management. Over the course of his twenty-five years at General Electric, he rose the ranks through a series of top-level positions in manufacturing, finance, marketing, strategic planning and general management.

In 1996, Cote was appointed corporate senior vice president and president and COO of GE Appliances in Louisville, Kentucky. He was vice president and general manager at GE Silicones prior to accepting the role at GE Appliances. In the spring of 1999, Cote was not selected as a potential successor to Jack Welch.

TRW
In November 1999, Cote joined TRW as president and COO of the $16 billion Cleveland-based products and services provider for the automotive, aerospace and information technology markets where he introduced the Six Sigma management system to reduce defects in manufacturing.

In February 2001, Cote was appointed CEO. In August 2001, he was elected chairman of the board. Cote led the creation of the TRW subsidiary Velocium, which manufactured ultra-high-speed semiconductors.

In February 2002, Cote announced he would be leaving TRW. Reportedly, the news surprised employees and some executives, who learned of Cote's departure hours before the announcement.

Honeywell
Honeywell selected Cote as successor to Lawrence Bossidy, following the Allied Signal acquisition of Honeywell and European Union's rejection of Honeywell's merger with General Electric. On February 19, 2002, Cote was elected president, CEO and a member of the board of directors at Honeywell. After Bossidy retired as chairman, in July 2002, Cote was elected chairman of the board.

CEO Leadership Style
Cote's leadership style combines personal magnetism and forward-looking, often contrarian thinking. Cote unified company culture clash between Honeywell, Allied Signal and Pittway. The unified culture is now known as One Honeywell. Cote directed the company to identify 12 measurable behaviors, which include customer focus, self-awareness, teamwork and diversity, integrative thinking and championing change. When Cote took office, Honeywell lost $220 million that year. Immediately, Cote instituted conservative accounting to streamline costs. In an effort to reduce the unpredictable asbestos-plus-environmental expense, Cote led Honeywell to establish a trust for claims and reclaim soil at chemical plants. As a result, that expense is consistently $150 million a year, after-tax. To reduce labor and operating costs while also maximizing Honeywell's manufacturing output, Cote introduced the Honeywell Operating System (HOS), inspired by Toyota's Production System (TPS). Cote led the creation of Velocity Product Development™ (VPD™), which resulted in improved quality in design, increased production, and lower production costs. Cote is credited for the creation of Functional Transformation (FT), Honeywell's productivity management system for administrative functions such as finance, IT and HR. As a result, profit margins have increased in part the reduction of administrative costs. Cote oversaw more than 80 acquisitions, none of which cost more than $1.4 billion. He also led divestures of 60 business units. Since 2002, Honeywell has increased its labor force 22%, to 131,000. In the period of 2008-2009, Cote faced a difficult decision to restructure the company's workforce. Rather than lay off workers to reduce overall operating costs, Cote and his executive team instituted furloughs. In the Harvard Business Review, Cote described the decision as, "Any restructuring we agreed to during that period would be permanent—in other words, not solely in response to the recession but, rather, what was best for business efficiency and profitability over the long term—and would have no impact on our ability to outperform in recovery."



Cote has been reported to forego the traditional executive suit and tie. Instead, he wears a leather bomber jacket, jeans, and Mephisto shoes to work, including board meetings. Washington civil rights attorney Vernon Jordan says about Cote, "I tell Dave he looks like something out of Silicon Valley."

Stock Price
February 2012 marked Cote's ten years at Honeywell where under his leadership Honeywell's stock rose from $24 to $66. Investors have earned a total shareholder return, including dividends, of 219%, approximately 1.7x the S&P 500. Revenue rose 69 percent, and profit margins increased to 15.6 percent from 11.3 percent in 2002. In 2013, total shareholder return rose 47%. In March 2014, the stock reached $95.85, after the announcement that the company would meet previously stated five-year targets in the year.

Compensation
In 2009, David M. Cote earned a total compensation of US $12,839,038, which included a base salary of $1,800,000, no cash bonus, $4,252,500 in stock, options granted of $6,374,500, and other compensation of $412,038. In 2012, David M. Cote earned base salary $1,800,000, $4,800,000 cash bonus, $9,289,000 stock and options, and other compensation of $389,972. Cote ranks #5 on the 2012 Forbes CEO Compensation list. According to USA Today, in 2013 most of his salary came from a $9 million incentive award. His compensation included $1.8 million base salary, $5.2 million bonus and stock options valued at $8.9 million. Cote was given options to acquire 750,000 shares "in recognition of his anticipated leadership in driving sustained financial and operational performance."

Relations with the Obama Administration
Cote is a registered Republican, but has close ties with President Barack Obama and the Obama Administration as a whole. Right after President Obama took office in January 2009, Cote was one of the few CEOs invited to the White House for a tête-à-tête with the President. In November 2009, Cote was one of the 12 CEOs selected by the White House to host the US-India CEO Forum, which Cote and Ratan Tata Co-Chaired. The forum included other U.S. top-level executives including Vikram Pandit, Jamie Dimon and Indra Nooyi, among others.

Debt Commission
In February 2010, David M. Cote was selected by President Obama to be on the non-partisan Simpson-Bowles debt panel (The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform). Cote was an original member of the Campaign to Fix the Debt. Cote has been vocal about the importance of strengthening U.S. competitiveness in the global economy and attracting international business by cleaning up its debt and reform policies while taking advantage of natural resources. He is also a proponent of the government to take on both a regulatory and facilitative role in business.



Board of Directors and Other Roles
In March 2014, David Cote was elected as a director at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

David Cote serves as Chairman on the Energy & Environment Committee of the Business Roundtable.

Merits, Awards, and Honorary Degrees
In 2011, Cote was awarded Doctor of Humane Letters by the University of New Hampshire. At the commencement ceremonies, Cote asserted, "The greatest learning occurs where you're uncomfortable because you don't know it all. Push yourself. Be willing to take a chance. Don't wait for approval or perfect knowledge."
 * 2014 Horatio Alger Award for Distinguished American
 * 2014 World's Best CEOs, Barron's
 * 2013 Chief Executive of the Year, Chief Executive Magazine
 * 2013 Excellence in Ethics Award, American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
 * 2013 American Australian Association Award
 * 2013 Corporate Leadership Award, TechAmerica Foundation
 * 2013 World's Best CEOs, Barron's
 * 2013 Top 100 Leaders in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), STEMConnector
 * 2011 The Distinguished Achievement Award from B’nai B’rith International
 * 2011 Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, University of New Hampshire
 * 2007 Corporate Social Responsibility Award from the Foreign Policy Association
 * 2001 Peter G. Peterson Award for Business Statesmanship from the Committee for Economic Development (CED)
 * 2001 Honorary Juris Doctorate, Pepperdine University Graziadio School of Management

Past Roles

 * General Electric 1974–1976, factory laborer 1976–1996, manager; 1996–1999, senior vice president, president and CEO of Appliances

David M. Cote was a member of the board of directors at JPMorgan Chase from July 2007 to July 2013 and was an advisor to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR). In 2012, Cote came under criticism as one of the three members of JP Morgan Chase's Risk committee after the bank has been under siege since CEO Jamie Dimon said May 10, 2012 that the firm’s chief investment office suffered a $2 billion loss trading credit derivatives.
 * TRW, 1999–2001, president and COO; 2001, president and CEO; 2001–2002, president, CEO, and chairman

Cote was a member of the Executive Committee of The Business Council for 2011 and 2012.