Life
Peter Holt is the great-grandson of Benjamin Holt, who developed the first practical track-type tractor 100 years ago. The Holt family’s history in San Antonio, Texas began in 1933, when Peter’s great uncle, William K. "Bill" Holt, moved to San Antonio to start a Caterpillar dealership. He had no heirs, so Bill invited B.D. Holt (Peter’s father) to get involved in the business. In 1961, B.D. Holt moved to Corpus Christi, Texas and started his own Caterpillar dealership.
Peter Holt, a Peoria, Illinois native, lived in San Antonio as a child before moving to Corpus Christi. After high school in Corpus Christi, Peter Holt went into the United States Army, serving two years, including a one-year tour of duty as an infantryman in Vietnam. He ended his military duty as a Sergeant (E5) with a Silver Star and three Bronze Star Medals for Valor and a Purple Heart for wounds received.
Upon returning to the United States, Holt went to California, working for an investment banking house and became involved in a bar and restaurant business. Holt rejoined his father in the Holt Companies in 1983 in Corpus Christi. As president and CEO, Holt implemented a strategy to diversify the company’s markets, taking it from one of the smallest Caterpillar dealerships to the largest one in the country today. In September 1987, Peter and his father purchased Holt Machinery Co., in San Antonio, reuniting the original Caterpillar dealership that Bill Holt started in 1933. Holt would later expand the company's Texas presence by purchasing Darr Equipment Company of Dallas, the Caterpillar dealer for the DFW Metroplex.
Not one for formalities and pretense, he set up offices in a San Antonio corporate headquarters building made of metal corrugated siding and dubbed "The Barn."
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