Chapter 28

The name Glenn L. Martin Company might sound unfamiliar to most people, but after two mergers, the new company it became is the famous Lockheed Martin.

The “Martin” in Lockheed Martin comes from the Glenn L. Martin Company.

The advantage of coming to a problem with the answer is huge: the reality is George Arthur couldn’t do it, and historically he couldn’t do it either; General Electric didn’t make the cut, and in the end could only serve as a minor supplier in NASA’s lunar landing program.

George Arthur is nowhere to be found in the Apollo lunar landing records.

The Glenn L. Martin Company was entirely different.

The Glenn L. Martin Company was one of the finalists for the Apollo command and service module contracts, even though it lost to North American Aviation in 1962.

But later, in space programs like the Pioneer rocket and the Titan series, it played a crucial role in the space race.

Besides the Glenn L. Martin Company being highly valuable, with its excellent engineering team and past successes in mass-producing bombers, from a god’s-eye view, the company itself would merge with Marietta Company in just two years.

Since you’ll merge eventually, and Morgan family already controls General Electric, there’s an opportunity to pursue such a merger.

During this time, John Morgan had been pushing to separate the aerospace division, so he was naturally familiar with the name Glenn L. Martin Company:

“Glenn L. Martin Company?”

Lin Ran continued: “Yes, General Electric’s current engineering team is too weak.

Even if our feasibility report passes, we’ll still rely on external suppliers during actual project execution.

If that’s the case, why not merge those potential external suppliers in advance?

In my view, the Glenn L. Martin Company would be the best target.

As for the specifics of the merger, my 30% stake can simply be diluted proportionally.”

John Morgan hesitated: “I’ll look into it first—merging with Glenn L. Martin Company won’t be easy.

General Electric’s entire aerospace division has only two thousand employees, while Glenn L. Martin Company employed over fifty thousand at its peak; even after the war, as staff numbers declined, it still had over ten thousand employees.

Their revenue and profits far exceed those of General Electric’s aerospace division.”

Lin Ran stared directly at him—he trusted the Morgan family’s strength even more than John Morgan did: “This is indeed a case of a snake swallowing an elephant, but they need the Morgan family too.

You’re not having General Aerospace acquire Glenn L. Martin Company—you’re having the Morgan family acquire Glenn L. Martin Company.”

Every time he met Lin Ran, John Morgan wanted to take the initiative, but he had never succeeded.

He always tried to find fault with Lin Ran’s suggestions—he didn’t understand the technical details, and General Electric’s engineers had been reduced to trembling like grandchildren; one engineer had dared to argue and was left speechless.

Now he realized that even in business operations, Lin Ran’s suggestions were more complete.

If success is mandatory, merging with Glenn L. Martin Company is indeed a good choice.

Companies better than it won’t sell—like Boeing, which had consistently over fifty thousand employees and revenues exceeding one billion dollars by 1960.

Even if his grandfather, J.P. Morgan Jr., came himself, he might not pull it off.

Companies weaker than Glenn L. Martin Company? Better to just hire new engineers and poach teams from competitors.

The more John Morgan thought about it, the better the idea seemed—but it was still extremely difficult.

John Morgan explained: “Randolph, I need to reassess acquiring Glenn L. Martin Company—the challenges are still too great.

Moreover, Glenn L. Martin Company is a key defense contractor; this acquisition will face strict scrutiny, especially given the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Clayton Antitrust Act—the Department of Justice might intervene.

Even if both parties agree to merge, we’ll still face pressure from the federal government.”

General Electric is also one of the core defense suppliers, providing engines for the J47 and J79 fighter jets, plus vast quantities of aircraft electronics.

After a moment’s thought, Lin Ran said: “I understand. Wait until NASA’s lunar return bidding at year-end—after our proposal defeats all competitors and wins the contract, then approach George Bunker of Glenn L. Martin Company.

But you must start interacting with George Bunker now and hint that General Electric is interested in acquiring Glenn L. Martin Company.”

George Bunker, chairman of the board of Glenn L. Martin Company, was one of the key drivers behind its merger with Marietta Company two years later.

“You must show him that merging with General Electric would create complementary strengths in aerospace technology, and that General Electric could provide financial support to strengthen Martin Company’s ability to compete against giants like Boeing and Lockheed.”

After meeting Lin Ran, John Morgan immediately boarded a flight to Huntsville, where he had arranged to meet Haines.

Yes—that Haines, the NASA engineer who had stayed two nights at Lin Ran’s New York home.

Haines worked at Redstone Arsenal, located southwest of Huntsville, Alabama, covering nearly forty thousand acres.

On July 1, 1960—just four months from now—NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center would be established on the site of Redstone Arsenal.

At present, Redstone Arsenal was not yet called the Marshall Space Flight Center, but because of its existence, scientists, engineers, and military personnel had already gathered there, bringing early prosperity to the surrounding city of Huntsville.

The hotel where John Morgan met Haines, the Russell Erskine Hotel, was one of the city’s most luxurious, built in 1930 and renowned for its upscale Southern cuisine.

When John Morgan, dressed in a navy double-breasted suit handcrafted by Chipp, walked into the restaurant, dusty from travel, Haines had already been waiting.

“Mr. Morgan, you’re dressed sharp today,” Haines teased—he’d dealt with this man a few times because of Randolph, and they’d developed a basic rapport.

“This? Made by hand in New York by Chipp—if you’re interested, I can give you his card. Compared to the old-fashioned Brooks Brothers or Savile Row, I prefer Chipp’s more modern Ivy League style.”

“By the way, are you interested in working for General Electric?”