Two Caterpillar group presidents announce retirement

Caterpillar
Ramin Younessi and Anthony D. Fassino

Caterpillar has announced changes to its executive office with the retirements of group presidents Ramin Younessi and William P. Ainsworth.

Younessi is currently the group president of Construction Industries, which includes the earthmoving, excavation, building construction products, China operations, global construction and infrastructure and strategic procurement divisions, as well as global rental and used equipment services.

Ainsworth is currently the group president of the Energy and Transportation segment, which includes the rail division, solar turbines, large power systems division, industrial power systems division, electric power division and Caterpillar Oil and Gas and marine division. 

Both president will retire at the end of the year, with their replacements officially taking the helm of the two division on Jan. 1, 2021.

Younessi joined Caterpillar in 2013 after serving in several executive and senior leadership roles with Daimler AG and Navistar Inc.

Before his appointment as group president, Younessi was vice president of Caterpillar’s Industrial Power Systems Division.

He was appointed group president of Caterpillar’s Energy and Transportation segment in 2018, and in 2019 he became group president of Construction Industries.

“Ramin successfully leveraged his extensive global business experience in the commercial vehicle and engine industries to help us improve Caterpillar’s competitive and flexible cost structure,” said Caterpillar chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby. “His engineering and supply chain expertise has had a positive impact on the enterprise. We will miss his energy and enthusiasm and wish him well in his retirement.”

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Caterpillar’s board of directors appointed Anthony D. Fassino to succeed Younessi as group president of Construction Industries. Fassino is currently vice president of the Building Construction Products Division.

“Tony’s strong product knowledge, commitment to operational excellence and experience working with Caterpillar’s dealer network make him ideally suited to lead our CI segment,” said Umpleby. “He will focus on accelerating services growth while making our customers more successful.”

After joining Caterpillar in 1996, Fassino held a variety of positions around the world, including several sales and technical field assignments in the United States and Canada, as well as the new product introduction manager for excavators in Japan. He also led the Eastern United States Region Distribution Services team and served as director of Caterpillar Worldwide Forest Products before becoming the vice president of BCP in 2018.

Energy and Transportation segment

Ainsworth joined Caterpillar as a vice president in 2006, following the acquisition of his company, Progress Rail Services. In 2017, he became a senior vice president and strategic advisor to the executive office, in addition to his responsibilities for the rail division. He was appointed group president of Energy and Transportation in 2019.

“Billy brought valuable external perspective to Caterpillar with his entrepreneurial background, broad business experience and customer focus,” Umpleby said. “His exemplary leadership in growing services will leave a legacy that will benefit the company for years to come. We thank him for his significant contributions to Caterpillar’s success and wish him a long and happy retirement.”

The board of directors has appointed Joseph Creed as the new group president of E&T. Creed is currently vice president of the Caterpillar oil and gas and marine and electric power divisions. 

“Joe’s extensive financial expertise across our engine and machine businesses combined with his recent role leading our oil & gas, marine and electric power divisions position him well to lead E&T, grow services and contribute to our customers’ continued success,” Umpleby said.

Creed joined Caterpillar in 1997 and has held numerous accounting and finance positions of increasing responsibility across multiple divisions of Caterpillar. He was promoted to vice president of Caterpillar’s finance services division in 2017, served as interim chief financial officer in 2018 and became vice president of oil and gas and marine and electric power in 2019. He assumed responsibility of the electric power division in 2020.