Litton Industries
American defense conglomerate that diversified widely before returning to its core.
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Litton Industries was an American defense contractor focused on shipbuilding, aerospace, electronic components, and information technology. The company began in 1953 and took its name from inventor Charles Litton Sr., an early investor. During the 1960s, it bought up many unrelated businesses and grew into one of the largest U.S. conglomerates. At its height, alongside numerous defense firms, it owned Royal Typewriters, Adler, Moffat appliances, Stouffer foods and hospitality, and several office equipment and furniture companies.
Like many conglomerates, it struggled in the 1970s, sold off many of those unrelated brands, and by the 1980s had largely refocused on defense. After the Cold War ended, the company kept shrinking and became a takeover target in the late 1990s. Northrop Grumman bought it in 2001. Litton Industries started as an electronics company making navigation, communications, and electronic warfare gear.
It later diversified into shipyards and microwave ovens. The company was founded in 1953 by business executive Charles Bates "Tex" Thornton, along with associates Roy Ash and Hugh Jamieson. Based in Beverly Hills, California, it was first called Electro Dynamics Corporation. In 1954, using a loan from Lehman Brothers, Thornton bought the vacuum tube maker Litton Industries Inc. from its founder Charles Litton Sr. for $1.5 million and adopted that name.
Though short on capital at first, Thornton believed the U.S. Department of Defense would need more advanced weapons and that demand for another large electronics company would grow. Over time, Litton acquired several smaller companies and merged with Monroe Calculating Machine. Monroe used Litton's technology, while Litton gained Monroe's sales and service network. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, half of Litton's business came from the U.S. government; besides calculators, it made inertial guidance systems for aircraft, potentiometers, and duplexers.
In 1961, Litton bought Ingalls Shipbuilding for $8 million and moved into submarines and oil-drilling equipment. By 1963, it had reached $500 million in assets, with revenue of $393.8 million. In December 1964, it acquired Royal McBee. In 1968, it bought D. Van Nostrand Company and Chapman-Reinhold, merging them into the publisher Van Nostrand-Reinhold.
Lore & Background
Litton Industries was founded in 1953 by American business executive Charles Bates 'Tex' Thornton alongside his associates Roy Ash and Hugh Jamieson. Headquartered in Beverly Hills, California, the original name of the company was 'Electro Dynamics Corporation.' In 1954, with a loan from the Lehman Brothers, Thornton acquired the vacuum tube producer 'Litton Industries Inc' from its founder Charles Litton Sr. for $1.5 million and subsequently adopted its name. Although Litton Industries lacked capital in the beginning, Thornton thought that the U.S. Department of Defense would need more sophisticated weapons and that the demand for another large electronics company would increase. During the 1960s, the company began acquiring many unrelated firms and became one of the largest conglomerates in the United States.
At its peak, in addition to many defense-related companies, it also owned both Royal Typewriters and Adler, Moffat major appliances, Stouffer Corporation foods and hospitality, and various office equipment and furniture companies. Like many conglomerates, the company suffered significant declines in the 1970s, selling off many of its unrelated brands and had largely returned to its defense roots by the 1980s. The company continued to shrink after the ending of the Cold War and by the late 1990s was a corporate takeover target. The company was purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2001.
Reader's Guide
Litton Industries is notable as a quintessential American conglomerate that grew from a small electronics firm into a sprawling defense and commercial powerhouse, then retrenched to its military core. Its history illustrates the rise and fall of the conglomerate model in the United States, particularly the challenges of managing diverse businesses from typewriters to shipbuilding. The company's inertial guidance systems, shipyards (Ingalls and Avondale), and navigation equipment (Decca Navigator, Sperry Marine) left a lasting mark on military and commercial aviation and maritime technology. Litton's acquisition by Northrop Grumman in 2001 integrated its capabilities into one of the world's largest defense contractors, preserving many of its divisions under new ownership.
The company's legacy also includes its role in the development of microwave ovens and office equipment, though these were divested as it refocused. For avionics and flight instruments, Litton's guidance and control systems, aero products, and navigation technologies were significant contributions to aerospace, with divisions such as Litton Aero Products and Litton Guidance and Control Systems producing equipment used in military and civilian aircraft. The company's story is a case study in corporate strategy, diversification, and the cyclical nature of defense spending.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Litton Industries (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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