The Last Chapter
The Facts about the Last Days of Grumman
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The American defense industry has been facing hard times since the famous "last supper' of 1992 when Defense Department officials summoned the heads of all of the big defense companies to Washington. At this meeting the message was made very clear, industry downsizing was going to be a necessity. 50% of the companies that were in attendance, would not be in existence within a year or two. This notice gave rise to a massive series of mergers and acquisitions, in an attempt to create companies that could survive future budget reductions.
Both Grumman and Northrop had carefully studies partnering possibilities and decided to get together in a friendly merger. Key executives of both companies worked for months to insure that the proper steps were taken to insure success in this venture.
Minutes before the final decision was to be made by Grumman's Board of Directors to approve a merger, Grumman's investment banker suddenly did a complete turn around that changed what was to be a friendly partnering into a hostile acquisition.
This book reveals all of the details of these last few months at Grumman. The book is laced with interesting political stories that provide a background for a better understanding of how the US political system works and why companies are required to work within this system to survive.
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About the Book
It was July 2, 1962, when Jake Bussolini first walked through the doors of Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation as their newest electrical engineer. As he was escorted to a plain gray desk that resembled the hundreds of other desks that cluttered the third floor, Bussolini never dreamed that over the next thirty-two years, he would not only help design and build the Lunar Module that delivered astronauts to the moon, but also climb the corporate ladder to become an integral part of an assignment that would lead Grumman in a startlingly different direction. As he leads others behind closed doors of both executive offices and the corporate board room during challenging times in the defense industry in the early 1990s, Bussolini discloses never-before-revealed details about how a friendly merger created to survive budget cuts slowly transformed into a hostile acquisition. While describing the tense events before, during, and after the acquisition, Bussolini divulges how activities initiated by an investment banker minutes before a final decision was to be made by the Board of Directors to approve the merger changed the course of the company’s history, and the lives of its loyal employees forever. The Last Chapter shares the fascinating inside story of the 1994 acquisition of Grumman from a former company executive determined to document the final chapter in the history of a great corporation.
About the Author
Jake Bussolini began at Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation in 1962 as an electrical engineer. His thirty-three-year career encompassed several executive roles that allowed him access to facts and activities related to the 1994 acquisition of Grumman by Northrop. Jake currently resides in Mooresville, North Carolina, where he is enjoying retirement.