Textron Inc. is an American industrial conglomerate based in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

. Textron's subsidiaries include

Arctic Cat Arctic Cat is an American brand of snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles manufactured in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. The company was formed in 1960 and is now part of Textron Inc. Arctic Cat designs, engineers, manufactures and markets all-terr ...

Bell Textron Bell Textron Inc. is an American aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. A subsidiary of Textron, Bell manufactures military rotorcraft at facilities in Fort Worth, and Amarillo, Texas, as well as commercial helicopters in Mir ...

Textron Aviation Textron Aviation Inc. is the general aviation business unit of the conglomerate Textron that was formed in March 2014 following the acquisition of Beech Holdings which included the Beechcraft and Hawker Aircraft businesses. The new business uni ...

(which itself includes the

Beechcraft Beechcraft is an American brand of civil aviation and military aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of Beech Aircraft Corporation, an American manufacturer of general aviati ...

, and

Cessna Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing c ...

brands), and

Lycoming Engines Lycoming Engines is a major American manufacturer of aircraft engines. With a factory in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, Lycoming produces a line of horizontally opposed, air-cooled, four, six and eight-cylinder engines including the only FAA-certi ...

. It was founded by

Royal Little Royal Little (March 1, 1896 – January 10, 1989) was the founder and chair of Textron, and is considered to be the father of conglomerates. Little graduated from Noble & Greenough School in 1915 and from Harvard University in 1919, despite ...

in 1923 as the Special Yarns Company. In 2020, Textron employed over 33,000 people in 25 different countries. The company ranked 265th on the 2021 ''Fortune'' 500 of the largest United States corporations by revenue.

History

Early history

Textron started as a textile company in 1923, when 27-year-old

founded the Special Yarns Corporation in Boston, Massachusetts. The company manufactured synthetic

yarn Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufact ...

s, a niche product at the time. By the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the company was known as Atlantic Rayon Corporation and manufactured

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

s. As war production wound down, the company started making civilian products as well and was renamed Textron: “Tex" for "textiles" and "tron" from synthetics such as "Lustron". The company was listed on the

NYSE The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the List of stock exchanges, world's largest s ...

in 1947. Royal Little began the process of turning Textron into a conglomerate in 1953, with the purchase of Burkart Manufacturing Company (upholstery filling for automotive industry) in September 1953, followed by the purchase of Dalmo-Victor (airborne Radar Antennae) and MB Manufacturing Company in early 1954. The push for diversification would see Textron purchase various other manufacturing companies. In 1960, the company also bought Bell Aerospace and E-Z-Go. The textile division was sold to Deering Milliken in 1963. Later CEOs included G. William Miller (1968–1977), Joseph Collinson (1977–1979) and Robert P. Straetz (1979–1986). In 1984, Textron took on more debt and bought

Avco Avco Corporation is a subsidiary of Textron which operates Textron Systems Corporation and Lycoming. History The Aviation Corporation was formed on March 2, 1929, to prevent a takeover of CAM-24 airmail service operator Embry-Riddle Compa ...

, a conglomerate almost as big as itself. Later on, James Hardymon took over as CEO.

Campbell era

James Hardymon brought in

Lewis B. Campbell Lewis B. Campbell is the former interim CEO of Navistar International Corporation and the former CEO of Textron. He received a BSE from Duke University in 1968. After graduation, he began his career at Inland Manufacturing Division of General M ...

, who became CEO in 1998. Starting in 2000, Campbell led a company-wide restructuring program. The share price fell to as low as $13/share in March 2003 after the economic downturn following the collapse of Internet companies and the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Diminished demand for helicopters and airplanes led to layoffs at

and

. In 2004, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' magazine named Campbell as the fifth worst-performing CEO in the country. In 2007, the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' reported that Campbell had received $494,700 in compensation in the form of his use of a corporate jet to travel between his home and office, which made him the most expensive CEO in the country in terms of use of jet travel. Some shareholders have questioned whether it is a good use of shareholder dollars to pay for the personal lifestyle choice of the CEO to live in one state and work in another. Shares in Textron plummeted to as low as $10.09 per share in the aftermath of the

2008 economic downturn The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At t ...

, driving its market capitalization down to just $3.17 billion. While the company lost 75% of its value in the first ten years of Campbell's leadership, he managed to take home over $120 million in compensation. His salary in 2008 was $25 million, making him the highest paid executive of a conglomerate. Campbell managed to sell over $40 million in Textron stock in April and May 2008, at prices over $60 per share.

After Campbell

Scott C. Donnelly became CEO in December 2009. Textron acquired Mechtronix in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...

and OPINICUS in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, in 2013. Donnelly combined these flight simulation companies, along with Textron’s AAI Logistics & Technical Services, to form TRU Simulation & Training in 2014. On December 26, 2013, Textron agreed to purchase

, including the discontinued Hawker jet line, for $1.4 billion. The sale closed in March 2014. The company formed a new company called

to market the products of Beechcraft,

and Hawker as individual

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

s. From 2013 to 2016, R&D investments were 4.3%, 4.0%, 4.6% and 4.2% of its revenues ($13.78 billion in 2016) and totaled more than $2.2 billion as it develops seven aircraft: the

Bell 525 Relentless The Bell 525 Relentless is an American super-medium-lift helicopter, under development by Bell Textron. The Bell 525 was unveiled at the 2012 Heli-Expo in Dallas, Texas in February 2012. The helicopter first flew on 1 July 2015. It is designed ...

Bell V-280 Valor The Bell V-280 Valor is a tiltrotor aircraft being developed by Bell and Lockheed Martin for the United States Army's Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program.

tiltrotor,

Cessna Citation Longitude The Cessna Citation Longitude is a business jet produced by Cessna, part of the Cessna Citation family. Announced at the May 2012 EBACE, the Model 700 made its first flight on October 8, 2016, with certification obtained in September 2019. The ...

Cessna Citation Hemisphere The Cessna Citation Hemisphere was a business jet project by Cessna. Announced in November 2015, it was then expected to fly in 2019 but its development was suspended in April 2018 due to a delay in the development of its Safran Silvercrest engin ...

Cessna Denali The Beechcraft Denali, also known as the Model 220 and previously the Cessna Denali and Textron "Single Engine Turboprop" (SETP), is an American single engine turboprop aircraft under development by Textron Aviation. Announced at EAA AirVent ...

single-engine turboprop, the

Cessna SkyCourier The Cessna 408 SkyCourier is an American utility aircraft designed and built by Textron Aviation. It was launched on November 28, 2017 with an order for 50 from FedEx Express. It made its first flight on May 17, 2020, and was type certified o ...

twin cargo hauler and the Textron Scorpion close support jet after the certification of the

Bell 505 Jet Ranger X The Bell 505 Jet Ranger X (JRX) is an American/Canadian light helicopter developed and manufactured by Bell Helicopter. The Bell 505 was unveiled at the 2013 Paris Airshow in June 2013 as the Bell SLS (Short Light Single). The Bell 505 designa ...

. In March 2022, Textron agreed to acquire

Pipistrel Pipistrel d.o.o Ajdovščina is a Slovenian light aircraft manufacturer established in 1989Or 1989... --> by Ivo Boscarol and based in Ajdovščina. Its facilities are located in Ajdovščina, Slovenia, and near the town of Gorizia, Italy. By Ma ...
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