Behn, Sosthenes (1882–1957)

Virgin Islands-born businessman. In 1914 Behn and his brother Hernand acquired the Puerto-Rican telephone system as security against a crop loan. This was the beginning of the telecommunications empire that became International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (IT&T) in 1920. Sosthenes served as president of the corporation until 1948, and was then chairman of the board until 1956. IT&T expanded globally until the 1930s and 1940s when Sosthenes sold local telephone companies to governments and consolidated operations in Great Britain and the USA.