In the early 20th century, Stone & Webster was known for operating streetcar systems in many cities across the United States including Dallas, Houston and Seattle.

Stone and Edwin S. Webster first met in 1884 and became close friends while studying electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Following the panic of 1893, Stone & Webster acquired the Nashville Electric Light and Power Co. for a few thousand dollars, subsequently reselling it for $500,000.

Even though Stone & Webster were not a holding company, their financial and managerial presence meant that they had considerable influence in policy decisions.

The investment banking affiliate, Stone & Webster Securities, had attempted to grow by acquiring two smaller, regional brokerage houses in 1968: Hayden, Miller & Co., based in Cleveland, and Atlanta-based Wyatt, Neal & Waggoner.

It had attempted to pay $147 million to a relative of Indonesian President Suharto to secure the largest contract in Stone & Webster's history.

[citation needed] Shaw's E&C division attempted to compete with other more successful engineering contractors such as Bechtel, Foster Wheeler, Jacobs and Technip.

[citation needed] Shaw's alliance with Westinghouse led to substantial Stone & Webster technology and engineering applications in the nuclear power industry.[where?

[full citation needed] In 2012, Technip, a French engineering conglomerate,[11] agreed to purchase most of the Energy and Chemical Division of Shaw Group[12][13] The remainder of The Shaw Group assets were ultimately purchased by Chicago Bridge & Iron Company, for about US$3 billion,[14][15][16] completing the acquisition in February 2013.