TRW
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other things named TRW, see TRW (disambiguation).
TRW Incorporated was an American corporation involved in a number of businesses, mostly defense-related, but including automotive supply and credit reporting. On December 12, 2002, Northrop Grumman acquired the defense business, and TRW Automotive Holdings, formerly LucasVarity (However John C. Plant still retaining major ownership) became a separate company, soon afterwards acquired by The Blackstone Group. Goodrich Corporation acquired TRW's Lucas Aerospace group. The credit reporting business, which was spun off in 1996, is now called Experian.
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[edit] History
The remotest origin of the company was in the Cleveland Cap Screw Company founded in 1901, which eventually became Thompson Products. The 1958 merger of Thompson with the Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation was named Thompson Ramo Wooldridge Inc., then shortened to TRW Inc. in 1965. In 1977 ESL Inc. was merged into TRW, expanding the firm's high technology data communications capability.
TRW Inc. was active in the early development of missile systems and spacecraft, most notably the NASA deep space satellites Pioneer 10 and 11 which sent information back to Earth for 30 years and continue to travel to the stars. TRW Inc. also pioneered systems engineering.
TRW was one of the first companies to build automobile safety air bags in the 1980s, but problems with the bags forced a recall by Ford Motor in 1990 and 1991. It also ran into asbestos problems, having used the material in the 1970s as brake liners.
The 1999 acquisition of the British aerospace and automotive parts maker LucasVarity doubled the size of TRW's automotive business, but saddled it with so much debt that it had to start selling businesses. The board brought in David Cote as CEO in 2001 to try to turn the business around, but he left in less than a year. In February 2002 Northrop Grumman launched a $5.9 billion hostile bid for TRW. A bidding war between Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems and General Dynamics ended on July 1 2002 when Northrop's increased bid of $7.8bn (£5.1bn) was accepted.
- See also: Simon Ramo and Dean Wooldridge
[edit] Controversies and Litigation
From 1974 to 1977, TRW employee Christopher John Boyce sold spy satellite secrets to the Soviet Union via the Soviet embassy in Mexico City. The story of Boyce and his accomplice, Andrew Daulton Lee, was told in the best-selling Robert Lindsey book The Falcon and the Snowman and served as basis for the 1985 film of the same title, though in the film the company was called "RTX". The book and film include stories of the lax security in place at TRW's Black Vault. Some of these included the repeated consumption of liquor and drugs while inside the vault as well as lack of proper attention to classified material handling, storage and destruction procedures.
Workers at TRW's plant in Mount Vernon, Ohio, allege that unsafe use of metalworking fluids has led to over 100 instances of severe respiratory disease since 2001.
[edit] Former headquarters
TRW's former offices in Lyndhurst, Ohio are now the site of Legacy Village, a lifestyle center.
[edit] References
- Davis Dyer, TRW: Pioneering Technology and Innovations since 1900 (Winthrop Library, 1998)
