 | |
 Textron Tower, the company's headquarters | |
| Formerly | Special Yarns Company |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| ISIN | US8832031012 |
| Industry | |
| Founded | 1923; 102 years ago (1923) |
| Founder | Royal Little |
| Headquarters | Textron Tower, Providence, Rhode Island, US |
Key people | Scott C. Donnelly (CEO,chairman &president) |
| Revenue |  US$13.7 billion (2024) |
 US$777 million (2024) | |
| US$824 million (2024) | |
| Total assets | US$16.8 billion (2024) |
| Total equity | US$7.20 billion (2024) |
Number of employees | c. 34,000 (2024) |
| Subsidiaries | Subsidiary list
|
| Website | textron |
| Footnotes / references [1] | |
Textron Inc. is an American industrialconglomerate based inProvidence, Rhode Island. Textron's subsidiaries includeBell Textron, Kautex,Textron Aviation (which itself includes theBeechcraft andCessna brands), andLycoming Engines. It was founded byRoyal Little in 1923 as theSpecial Yarns Company. In 2020, Textron employed over 33,000 people in 25 countries.[2]The company ranked 265th on the 2021Fortune 500 of the largest United States corporations by revenue.[3]
Textron started as a textile company in 1923, when 27-year-oldRoyal Little founded theSpecial Yarns Corporation inBoston, Massachusetts. The company manufactured syntheticyarns, a niche product at the time. By the start ofWorld War II, the company was known asAtlantic Rayon Corporation and manufacturedparachutes. As war production wound down, the company started making civilian products as well and was renamedTextron: "Tex" for "textiles" and "tron" from synthetics such as "Lustron". The company was listed on theNYSE in 1947.[4]
Royal Little began the process of turning Textron into a conglomerate in 1953, with the purchase of Burkart Manufacturing Company (upholstery filling for the automotive industry) in September 1953, followed by the purchase of Dalmo-Victor (airborne Radar Antennae)[5] and MB Manufacturing Company in early 1954.[6] The push for diversification would see Textron purchase various other manufacturing companies. In 1960, the company also bought Bell Aerospace and E-Z-Go.[4] The textile division was sold toDeering Milliken in 1963.[7]
Later CEOs includedG. William Miller (1968–1977), Joseph Collinson (1977–1979) and Robert P. Straetz (1979–1986). In 1984, Textron took on more debt and boughtAvco, a conglomerate almost as big as itself. Later on, James Hardymon took over as CEO.[4] This $1.4 billion acquisition included the parent ofPaul Revere Insurance Company[8] (through 1996, when they sold it).[9]
James Hardymon brought inLewis B. Campbell, who became CEO in 1998.[citation needed] 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 theterrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Diminished demand for helicopters and airplanes led to layoffs atCessna andBell Textron.[citation needed]
In 2007, theWall Street Journal 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.[10] Shares in Textron plummeted to as low as $10.09 per share in the aftermath of the2008 economic downturn, driving its market capitalization down to just $3.17 billion.[citation needed] 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.
Scott C. Donnelly became CEO in December 2009.[11] Textron acquired Mechtronix inMontreal, Quebec, and OPINICUS inTampa, Florida, in 2013. Donnelly combined these flight simulation companies, along with Textron's AAI Logistics & Technical Services, to form TRU Simulation & Training in 2014.[4]
On December 26, 2013, Textron agreed to purchaseBeechcraft, including the discontinued Hawker jet line, for $1.4 billion. The sale closed in March 2014.[12][13][14][15][16] The company formed a new company calledTextron Aviation to market the products of Beechcraft,Cessna and Hawker as individualbrands.[4]
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 developed seven aircraft: theBell 525 Relentless,Bell V-280 Valor tiltrotor,Cessna Citation Longitude,Cessna Citation Hemisphere,Beechcraft Denali single-engine turboprop, theCessna SkyCourier twin cargo hauler and theTextron Scorpion close support jet after the certification of theBell 505 Jet Ranger X.[17]
In March 2022, Textron agreed to acquirePipistrel, an electrically powered aircraft manufacturer based in Italy and Slovenia.[18]
On April 5, 2022, U.S. authorities announced criminal as well as civil charges in a Manhattan federal court against the former head of a now-defunct London-based company, Xcalibur Aerospace Ltd., for making a fraudulent bid to buy Textron for $13.8 billion. The Department of Justice and the SEC claimed that Xcalibur Aerospace was never in a position to complete a tender offer for Textron and lacked the finances to do so.[19]
Able Aerospace Services is an international business and $70 million aerospace enterprise that is performing more than 2,800 proprietaryFAA-approved repairs on aircraft and components.[20]
Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC) is a government contractor based inNewport News,Virginia.
On March 6, 2017, Textron acquiredArctic Cat for US$247M. Arctic Cat is a manufacturer of snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, andside-by-sides. Textron operates Arctic Cat as a subsidiary of Textron Specialized Vehicles.[21]
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Bell Textron is an Americanhelicopter androtorcraft manufacturer headquartered inFort Worth, Texas.[22]
Acquired by Textron in 1960,[23] E-Z-GO is a designer and manufacturer of light transportation vehicles for golf courses, planned communities, campuses, and other uses. Products include electric and internal combustion golf carts,low speed vehicles[24] and other multipurpose utility vehicles under the E-Z-Go,Cushman and Bad Boy Buggy brands.[25]
Greenlee Textron is an industrial and electrical tool company headquartered inRockford, Illinois. It was founded in 1862 by brothers Robert and Ralph Greenlee to manufacture their invention, a drill surrounded by four chisel blades, used in making the pockets for a mortise and tenon joint for the furniture industry in Rockford. This device is still used in cabinetmaking. The brothers later diversified into a variety of hand woodworking tools as well as machinery for making wooden barrels. The company was acquired by Textron in 1986. Greenlee produces various wire and cable installation tools that are used in a variety of fields. On April 18, 2018, Textron announced that it would sell its Greenlee brand toEmerson Electric.[26]
Textron purchasedJacobsen Manufacturing in June 1978 and continued to produce Jacobsen garden tractors into the 1990s.[27][28] Today, Jacobsen sells various products used for turf care: maintenance equipment, vehicles, and other products.
Kautex Textron is a supplier to theautomotive industry. The company produces plasticfuel systems, selective catalytic reduction systems, windshield and headlamp washer systems, and other products. In August 2019, Textron Inc. was looking to spin off or sell this division to focus on higher-margin parts of their business.[29]
Textron AirLand, LLC is a joint venture between Textron Inc. and AirLand Enterprises, LLC that is currently developing theTextron AirLand Scorpion aircraft as a private venture.[30]
Textron Aviation is a new venture formed in March 2014 from Beechcraft and Cessna, retaining the Beechcraft, Cessna and Hawker aircraft type names as brands.[31]
In March 2022 Textron agreed to buySlovenian aircraft builderPipistrel and form a new division forelectric aircraft development, calledTextron eAviation. Pipistrel will continue as abrand and retain its existing headquarters and operations in Slovenia and Italy. Textron will invest in the division to hasten future aircraft development and production. Pipistrel's founder and CEO, Ivo Boscarol, will stay on as a minority shareholder and also as theChairman Emeritus. The purchase was completed in April 2022, for a price of US$235M.[32][33]
Textron Systems is an aerospace and defense development and manufacturing firm headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. The company reported 2012 annual sales in the Textron Systems segment as $1.7 billion.[citation needed]
Its operating units are:
selling its 83 percent stake to Provident Companies
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