In the process of seeking to become the nation's most important textile tycoon, Royal Little (1896-1989) created Textron, the nation's first modern conglomerate corporation and set the pattern that scores of others followed.

Royal Little was born in Wakefield, Massachusetts, in 1896, into a family which wandered throughout the nation as his stepfather sought employment as a printer. Little's uncle, Arthur D. Little, the head of a prominent consulting firm which bore his name, was childless and in 1910 suggested that Royal return to Boston, become a member of his household, and eventually enter the business. The family agreed. In January 1911, Little was enrolled in a private school, and after graduation he went to Harvard to study engineering. Little interrupted his studies to serve as a lieutenant in World War I, but he returned after the war and completed the requirements for the degree.

Instead of entering his uncle's business...