Michael J. Berthelot founded Cito Capital Corporation in February 2003 following his retirement as Chief Executive Officer of TransTechnology Corporation, a New York Stock Exchange listed multinational manufacturer of industrial and aerospace equipment and components. Mr. Berthelot currently serves as a member of the board of directors and audit committee and chair of the compensation committee of Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. (NYSE:FDP), a Fortune 1000 Miami based consumer products company and as a member of the board of directors and the audit and compensation committees and chair of the governance committee of Pro-Dex Inc. (NASDAQ:PDEX) an Irvine, CA medical device manufacturer. Mr. Berthelot also serves on the boards of several private and not-for-profit organizations in San Diego County and is an adjunct professor at the University of California San Diego Rady School of Management.
During Mr. Berthelot's twelve-year tenure as CEO of TransTechnology, the company completed ten acquisitions including fifteen different operations. As a result, revenues grew from $54 million in fiscal 1991 to a peak of $328 million in fiscal 2001. In association with these acquisitions, Mr. Berthelot led a one million share secondary issue of common stock and multiple rounds of senior and subordinated debt financing, including a syndicated $325 million senior and subordinated credit facility in 2000. From 2001 through 2003, Mr. Berthelot led the company's successful restructuring process, divesting fourteen operations in a difficult environment. The company's corporate governance practices achieved a ranking in the 98.3 percentile from Insitutional Shareholder Services in 2003. Mr. Berthelot considers the management team he developed and built at TransTechnology as his most valuable contribution to the company.
Mr. Berthelot, 60, holds a Bachelor's of Science in Accounting, cum laude, from the University of Akron, a Masters of Business Administration from Cleveland State University, and is a certified public accountant (Ohio). He has served as a member of more than 30 boards in the U.S., Canada, England, Brazil, Spain and Germany. His past affiliations include owning his own certified public accounting firms in Ohio and Florida; partnership in Barnes Wendling Cook & O'Conner, Inc., Certified Public Accountants and Management Consultants in Cleveland, Ohio; principal shareholder and director of EWI, Inc., a privately held automotive supplier; and a major shareholder and director of Golf Card International, Inc., (OTC:GCIC), a golf membership services and publishing organization. Additionally, he served four years in the U.S. Coast Guard, including a tour in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, and was an agent with the Internal Revenue Service for three years following a one-year college internship.
Mr. Berthelot is a member of Beta Alpha Psi, the national accounting honors fraternity, and Beta Gamma Sigma, the national business honors fraternity. Mr. Berthelot's professional affiliations include the Ohio Society and American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the National Association of Corporate Directors' Directors' Institute, and the Corporate Directors Forum of San Diego, where he serves as Chairman of the Board. Mr. Berthelot also serves as a mentor and was formerly a board member of Chairmens' Roundtable, a San Diego organization that provides free mentoring for small businesses and is a mentor in the University of California San Diego's Rady School of Management's MBA program. Mr. Berthelot has previously served as a member of the faculty of the University of Phoenix Online, where he taught Organization Behavior. Mr. Berthelot earlier served as a member and president of the Board of Trustees of the Hudson Montessori School in Hudson, Ohio.
Mr. Berthelot writes and speaks on corporate strategic and governance issues on a national basis.
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