Yes, the title is dreadful grammar, but let's get on with the story and begin with the last company for which I worked first.
Hughes Space and Communications (HSC), was formed in 1961 as a subsidiary of the
Hughes
Aircraft Company (HAC) and was managed independently under the
auspices of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).
Howard Hughes died intestate in 1976 and after protracted legal
maneuverings, a board of trustees formed by the Delaware Chancery Court
determined that HAC would be put up for sale. In 1985 HHMI sold HSC/HAC to General Motors,
which renamed their acquisition Hughes Electronics
Corporation (HEC).
In January 2000, the satellite division was sold by GM to The Boeing
Company (ticker
BA).
The former HSC/HAC/HEC was renamed Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS) and has subsequently reorganized as
the
Boeing
Satellite Development Center, a business unit within what is today
Boeing Integrated Defense
Systems.
My first job was with North American Aircraft (NAA). The original contractor for the B1,
NAA was
itself bought by Rockwell International. Rockwell was in 2005 sold to Boeing
and the business unit I had worked for integrated into the
Boeing air frame operations.
I find it humorous to have worked for two companies that
today no longer exist and find myself now a former employee of a company I
never worked for!