Hughes Aircraft Company
The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes in Glendale, California, as a division of Hughes Tool Company.[1] The company produced the Hughes H-4 Hercules aircraft, the atmospheric entry probe carried by the Galileo spacecraft, and the AIM-4 Falcon guided missile.[2][3]
Not to be confused with Hughes Helicopters.Industry
1934 in Glendale, California
1997
Sold to Raytheon
$11B peak, 1986
Hughes Tool Company (1934)
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (1953)
General Motors Corp (1985)
84,000 peak, 1985
Hughes Aircraft was founded to build Hughes' H-1 Racer world speed record aircraft, and it later modified other aircraft for his transcontinental and global circumnavigation speed record flights. The company relocated to Culver City, California, in 1940 and began manufacturing aircraft parts as a subcontractor.[4] Hughes attempted to mold it into a major military aircraft manufacturer during World War II. However, its early military projects ended in failure, with millions of dollars in U.S. government funds expended but only three aircraft actually built, resulting in a highly publicized U.S. Senate investigation into alleged mismanagement.[5] The U.S. military consequently hesitated to award new aircraft contracts to Hughes Aircraft, prompting new management in the late 1940s to instead pursue contracts for fire-control systems and guided missiles, which were new technologies. The company soon became a highly profitable industry leader in these fields.[6][7]
In a 1953 accounting maneuver designed to reduce his income tax liabilities, Howard Hughes donated most of Hughes Aircraft's stock and assets to a charity he created, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), and subsequently ceased managing the company directly.[8] Hughes retained a small cadre of engineers under his personal control as the Hughes Tool Company Aircraft Division, which initially operated from the same Culver City complex as Hughes Aircraft, despite being separately owned and managed. This entity subsequently became fully independent from Hughes Aircraft and changed its name to Hughes Helicopters.[9][10] After Hughes' 1976 death, Hughes Aircraft was acquired by General Motors from HHMI in 1985 and was put under the umbrella of Hughes Electronics which became DirecTV, until GM sold its assets to Raytheon in 1997.[11][12]
Corporate legacy[edit]
The wide range of science and technology developed by Hughes Aircraft never included medical applications because the company was owned by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). This restriction was imposed to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest.[33]
The money provided to HHMI by Hughes Aircraft led to major improvements in genetics and cancer research.
The city of Fullerton, California, named Hughes Drive after the site that the company formerly occupied before 1997. After Hughes closed, the city developed Amerige Heights, a residential community.