Rand V. Araskog, who as chief executive of ITT Corp. from 1979 to 1998 spent much of his time dismantling the vast conglomerate as investors clamored for focus, died Monday August 9 2021 at his home in Palm Beach, Fla. He was 89 years old. Mr. Araskog, who grew up in Minnesota in a family of Swedish descent, was a U.S. military intelligence official in Germany before going into business, joining what was then International Telephone & Telegraph Corp. in 1966 and becoming the right-hand man to its chairman, Harold Geneen. RAND V. ARASKOG Director since 2005. Self-employed as a private investor as principal in RVA Investments since March 1998.