Harvey Pitt

Harvey L. Pitt
26th Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission
In office
August 3, 2001  February 18, 2003
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byArthur Levitt
Succeeded byWilliam H. Donaldson
Personal details
Born(1945-02-28)February 28, 1945
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedMay 30, 2023(2023-05-30) (aged 78)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Alma materBrooklyn College (BA)
St. John's University (JD)

Harvey L. Pitt (February 28, 1945 – May 30, 2023) was an American lawyer. He served as the 26th chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for 18 months from August 2001 to February 2003, a period that encompassed the September 11 attacks and the Enron scandal.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Pitt graduated from Brooklyn College with a bachelor's degree, and from St. John's University School of Law with a Juris Doctor. He then worked at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), eventually becoming the agency's general counsel. Pitt was later a partner at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, where he represented the Big Five accounting firms and other financial industry firms, before returning to the SEC as chairman.