[3] Textron started as a textile company in 1923, when 27-year-old Royal Little founded the Special Yarns Corporation in Boston, Massachusetts.

[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.

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.

[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.

[4] On December 26, 2013, Textron agreed to purchase Beechcraft, including the discontinued Hawker jet line, for $1.4 billion.

[17] In March 2022, Textron agreed to acquire Pipistrel, 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] On May 28, 2024, Textron publicly announced the completion of the 400th Cessna Citation Latitude business jet at its manufacturing facility in Wichita, Kansas.

Scheduled for delivery later this year, the significant achievement was marked by a celebratory event held by employees at the company's Wichita headquarters.

[21] Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC) is a government contractor based in Newport News, Virginia.

[23] Acquired by Textron in 1960,[24] E-Z-GO is a designer and manufacturer of light transportation vehicles for golf courses, planned communities, campuses, and other uses.

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.

[33][34] Textron Systems is an aerospace and defense development and manufacturing firm headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island.