Charles B. Thornton*

Tex Thornton was born in 1913 in Haskell, Texas. His father abandoned the family when Thornton was an infant.

At age 12, Thornton began to buy land with money he earned from odd jobs in and around his hometown; by age 14, he had accumulated nearly 40 acres. At age 19, he and a friend operated a successful filling station and car dealership. He later left the business to attend Texas Technological College, but quit during his junior year.

In 1934, Thornton got a job at the U.S. Department of the Interior as a clerk. He attended Columbus and George Washington Universities at night and received a bachelor of commercial science degree in 1937.

Thornton joined the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant shortly before the outbreak of World War II and went on to become one of the youngest full colonels in the Army. After V-J Day, he and a number of other officers he had trained became the famed "Whiz Kids" at Ford Motor Company.

In 1948, Thornton joined Hughes Aircraft as vice president and assistant general manager. While he was there, sales rose from $150 million to $200 million by 1953.

Thornton then formed Litton Industries, which started as an electronics company and became a large defense contractor. Within three years of its founding, sales reached the $100 million mark. By 1966, Litton was making $1 billion in annual sales.