Teledyne Technologies, Inc., is an American industrial conglomerate
primarily based in the United States but with global operations. It was founded
in 1960, as Teledyne, Inc., by Henry Singleton and George Kozmetsky.
From August 1996 to November 1999, Teledyne existed as part of the
conglomerate Allegheny Teledyne Incorporated – a combination of the
former Teledyne, Inc., and the former Allegheny Ludlum Corporation. On
November 29, 1999, three separate entities, Teledyne Technologies,
Allegheny Technologies, and Water Pik Technologies, were spun off as
free-standing public companies. Allegheny Technologies retained several
companies of the former Teledyne, Inc. that fit with Allegheny's core business
of steel and exotic metals production. At various times, Teledyne, Inc., had
more than 150 companies with interests as varied as insurance, dental
appliances, specialty metals, and aerospace electronics, but many of these
had been divested prior to the merger with Allegheny. The new Teledyne
Technologies was initially composed of 19 companies that were earlier in
Teledyne, Inc. By 2011, Teledyne Technologies had grown to include nearly
100 companies. Segments
Teledyne Technologies currently operates with four major segments: Digital
Imaging, Instrumentation, Engineered Systems, and Aerospace and Defense
Electronics. = Digital imaging=
This segment handles sponsored and central research laboratories for a
range of new technologies, as well as development and production efforts in
digital imaging products for government applications. Included are infrared
detectors, cameras, and opto-mechanical assemblies.
= Instrumentation= This segment provides monitoring and
control instruments for marine, environmental, scientific, industrial,
and defense applications as well as harsh environment interconnect products.
= Engineered systems= This segment provides systems
engineering and integration, advanced technology application, software
development, and manufacturing solutions to space, military, environmental,
energy, chemical, biological and nuclear systems, and missile defense
requirements. It also designs and manufactures hydrogen gas generators,
thermoelectric and fuel-based power sources, and small turbine engines.
= Aerospace and defense electronics= This segment provides complex electronic
components and subsystems for communication products, including
defense electronics, data acquisition and communications equipment for air
transport and business aircraft, and components and subsystems for wireless
and satellite communications, as well as general aviation batteries.
Companies As of January 2015, Teledyne
Technologies listed the following companies:
Teledyne Advanced Pollution Instrumentation
Teledyne Analytical Instruments Teledyne Battery Products
Teledyne Benthos Teledyne BlueView
Teledyne Brown Engineering Teledyne Brown CollaborX
Teledyne CML Teledyne Controls
Teledyne Cormon Teledyne Cougar
Teledyne D.G.O'Brien Teledyne DALSA
Teledyne Defense Ltd Teledyne Electronic Manufacturing
Services Teledyne Electronic Safety Products
Teledyne Electronics & Communications Teledyne Energy Systems
Teledyne Europe Teledyne Gavia ehf.
Teledyne Geophysical Instruments Teledyne Hastings Instruments
Teledyne Imaging Sensors Teledyne Impulse
Teledyne Instruments Teledyne Interconnect Devices
Teledyne ISCO Teledyne Judson Technologies
Teledyne KW Microwave Teledyne Labtech
Teledyne LeCroy Teledyne Leeman Labs
Teledyne Lighting & Display Products Teledyne Marine
Teledyne MEC Teledyne Microelectronic Technologies
Teledyne Microwave Teledyne Monitor Labs
Teledyne Ocean Designs, Inc. Teledyne ODI, Inc.
Teledyne Odom Hydrographic Teledyne Paradise Datacom
Teledyne Printed Circuit Technology Teledyne RESON
Teledyne RD Instruments BlueView Technologies
Teledyne Relays Teledyne Reynolds
Teledyne Reynolds, a Division of Teledyne Limited
Teledyne RISI Teledyne Scientific and Imaging
Teledyne Scientific Company Teledyne Storm Products, Cable Solutions
Group in Dallas Teledyne Storm Products, Microwave in
Chicago Teledyne TapTone
Teledyne Tekmar Company Teledyne Test Services
Teledyne TSS Teledyne Turbine Engines
Teledyne VariSystems Teledyne Webb Research
Some companies previously in Teledyne Technologies include the following:
Continental Motors, Inc. Laars
Mattituck Services Ryan Aeronautical
Wisconsin Motors History
In June 1960, Henry Singleton and George Kozmetsky, both previously executives
with Litton Industries, formed a firm named Instrument Systems located in
Beverly Hills, California. Arthur Rock, one of America's first and most
successful venture capitalists, financed the startup with a $450,000 investment.
Their basic plan was to build a major firm centering on microelectronics and
control system development, primarily through acquiring existing companies.
= Early years= In October 1960, the first acquisition
was made by purchasing the majority of stock in Amelco, a small electronics
manufacturing plant. Within a short time, rights to the name Teledyne and
its associated logo were bought. In addition to Amelco, two other
electronics manufacturing firms were acquired, and by the end of 1960,
Teledyne had about 400 employees and 80,000 square feet of floor space
devoted to engineering development and manufacturing. Teledyne stock was first
offered to the public in May 1961. During its first full fiscal year of
operations ending in October 1961, Teledyne had sales of $4,491,000 with a
net income of $58,000. Teledyne’s growth continued in 1962,
with the acquisition of companies primarily through equity agreements.
Internally, Teledyne Systems was formed as the centerpiece of the firm’s
aerospace systems business, diversifying the business base into government
contracts with NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense. By the end of the
second fiscal year, Teledyne sales had increased 230 percent and net income by
about 570 percent. Over the next three years, new companies
were acquired in microwave and power electrical products – including the
first consumer products. Teledyne Controls was established, moving the
Company into the field of hydraulics. Teledyne entered the optics field with
the acquisition of Kiernan Optics, producing windows for the Apollo
spacecraft and infrared optical domes for missiles.
In early 1965, Teledyne had a major breakthrough in winning a large contract
from the U.S. Navy for the Integrated Helicopter Avionics System, giving
Teledyne a name in the military market. This caused a major jump in the stock
price, from $15 to $65. By the end of the fiscal year, Teledyne had acquired
34 companies, sales were $86.5 million with net income of $3.4 million, there
were about 5,400 employees, assets reached $66.5 million, and there were
near 8 million outstanding shares of stock.
= Major growth years= A new era for Teledyne started in 1966.
In June, Kozmetsky left to become dean of the School of Business Administration
at the University of Texas. In July, Vanadium-Alloy Steel Company, including
its subsidiary Allvac, was merged into Teledyne. This expanded the company into
the Eastern U.S. and started the formation of material technologies as a
major business activity of Teledyne. With the merger, Singleton turned his
position of President over to George A. Roberts, a close friend from Naval
Academy days, who had headed Vasco. Singleton, now assisted by Roberts,
continued in acquiring new companies. In 1967, one of the largest of these was
Brown Engineering, a firm with about 3,500 employees headquartered in
Huntsville, Alabama. With NASA and DoD contracts for engineering services and
research, Brown Engineering added a new line of business for Teledyne. Ryan
Aeronautical in San Diego, was acquired in 1968. Earlier noted for building
Charles Lindberg’s Spirit of St. Louis in the 1920s, Ryan was now the largest
producer of unmanned drones for the military. Continental Motors was
primarily owned by Ryan, and this acquisition brought Teledyne into the
piston-powered engine business with both commercial and military customers.
In the remainder of the 1960s, Teledyne acquired some 90 more companies. A
number of these were in consumer products, such as AquaTek with Water Pik
and Shower Massage, Acoustic Research with high-fidelity speakers, and Olson
Electronics that operated retail stores across America. Packard Bell had both
consumer and government sales in computers and television receivers. A
number of electronic product lines and smaller acquisitions were consolidated
in Teledyne Electronics and Teledyne Microelectronic Technologies. Two
acquired firms, Geophysical Exploration and Geotronics, brought Teledyne into
off-shore drilling and earth-science instrumentation fields. Twenty-one
acquired companies were in the metals business, including Wah Chang and Cast
Products, and this led to the acquisition of firms producing
industrial machines and machine tools. Other diverse acquisitions included
Monarch Rubber, Sewart Seacraft, Isotopes, Radar Relays, and Getz Dental.
Singleton also added a diverse group of financial institutions, giving Teledyne
contact and intimacy with the capital world. These included thrift and loan
banks and insurance firms dealing with property, workers compensation,
casualty, and life insurance. Most of the insurance investments were later
consolidated into the Argonaut and Unitrin subsidiaries, and were
ultimately spun off as independent companies.
Teledyne was divided into Groups, and by the end of the 1960s, there were 16
Groups with 94 profit centers in 120 locations. Company presidents were given
considerable freedom in their operations, but Corporate maintained
close financial control and capital management. Teledyne sales in 1969 were
$2.7 billion and net income was $372 million. The stock had a 2-for-1 split
during 1967 and the same split in 1969. As Teledyne moved into its second
decade, some 150 firms had been acquired. Singleton then essentially
stopped direct acquisition of companies and began investments in stock of
technical firms. By the end of the second decade, Teledyne owned 31 percent
of Curtiss-Wright, 24 percent of Litton, as well as significant portions of a
number of other well-known companies. This stock was mainly held by the
insurance subsidiaries. In the “bear” market of the early 1970s,
Teledyne stock fell from about $40 to less than $8; Singleton saw this as an
opportunity to buy back Teledyne stock. In buybacks from October 1972 to
February 1976, 22 million shares were repurchased at $14 to $40 – well above
the market price. This raised the value of Teledyne stock, eventually increasing
to near $175 at the end of the decade. In this period, annual income increased
by 89 percent and net income by 315 percent. Stockholders who had remained
through the buyback achieved a phenomenal gain of about 3,000 percent.
= Peak and decline= Going into its third decade, Teledyne
sales passed the $3 billion mark in 1980, with industrial products leading
in both sales and net income. In the race between the U.S. and the Soviet
Union, government sales reached almost $800 million. The first significant
slump in Teledyne business began in 1985. Sales for 1984 had been about
$3.49 billion, but decreased to around $3.26 billion the next year and remained
essentially flat for the remainder of the decade.
In April 1986, Singleton, who was then 69 years old, turned the position of CEO
over to Roberts, but remained as Board Chairman. During 1988, Teledyne faced a
number of legal problems, none of which were the direct result of wrongdoings of
Singleton or Roberts. After agreeing to plead guilty to officials in Teledyne
Electronics having made false statements, Teledyne was fined $17.5
million. After guiding Teledyne for 29 years,
Singleton retired as an employee and officer in April 1989. Nevertheless,
that was a peak year for Teledyne sales and earnings. Teledyne stock price
reached $388.88, the highest in the nation. Total employment also peaked at
near 43,000. Henry Singleton retired as Teledyne
Chairman in 1991, and was replaced by George Roberts; William P. Rutledge was
named President and CEO. Roberts then retired in 1993 and was replaced by
Rutledge; Donald B. Rice, previously Secretary of the U.S. Air Force, was
then named President and CEO. Many companies had been sold during the prior
several years, and in 1993, through consolidations, the number was further
reduced from 65 to 18. In January 1995, Teledyne Electronic Systems was sold to
Litton Industries, essentially ending the business on which Teledyne had
originally been formed. In the early 1990s, while the company
underwent these turnovers in leadership, two lawsuits were brought against
Teledyne by whistleblowers under the False Claims Act. The suits charged the
company with falsifying test reports for relay devices sold to the US government
for weapons and spacecraft use, and with padding government contract cost
estimates. In April 1994, Teledyne settled both cases for $112.5 million,
at the time one of the largest settlements by military contractors in a
qui tam case. In late 1994, Teledyne was subjected to
a hostile takeover attempt by WHX Corporation. This was successfully
challenged, but the Teledyne pension fund had a surplus of $928 million and
this was of wide interest. To forestall further hostile takeovers, Allegheny
Ludlum, a steel and specialty metal firm, offered to serve as a white knight
friendly acquirer. On August 15, 1996, an agreement was reached to merge
Teledyne with Allegheny Ludlum, forming Allegheny Teledyne, Inc., with
headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
After some reorganization, ATI operated with three segments: Aerospace and
Electronics, Specialty Metals, and Consumer Products. The former Teledyne
high-technology companies were mainly in the A&E Segment, led by Robert
Mehrabian. ATI eventually decided to spin off the segments into independent
entities, and on November 29, 1999, Teledyne Technologies Incorporated,
Allegheny Technologies Incorporated, and Water Pik Technologies, Inc., were
formed. = Renewal=
With Robert Mehrabian as Chairman, CEO, and President, Teledyne Technologies was
initially composed of 19 companies, all dating from the original Teledyne, Inc.
There were about 5,800 employees, including some 1,400 engineers and
scientists. One of these companies, Ryan Aeronautical, was sold to Northrop
Grumman before the end of the year to raise initial operating capital.
Headquarters was initially in the Century City district of Los Angeles,
but was later moved to one of the city's suburbs, Thousand Oaks.
In 2000, its first full year of operation, Teledyne Technologies had
sales of $795.1 million and net income of $40.5 million. The renewed Teledyne
operated in much the same manner as Singleton’s early Teledyne, functioning
as a conglomerate with growth mainly due to acquisitions. In 2010, the sales were
$1,644.2 million with net income of $120.5 million, a cumulative financial
growth in the decade of approximately 100 percent. About 44 percent of the
2010 sales were derived from contracts with agencies of, or prime contractors
to, the U.S. government. By the start of 2011, there were near 100 companies,
functioning in a wide range of products and services.
References External links
Company homepage Homepages for each of the listed
Teledyne companies are available.