Greg Hayes and Tom Kennedy: Careers, Leadership, and the RTX Merger

Greg Hayes and Tom Kennedy are two prominent figures in the American aerospace and defense industry whose careers became closely connected through one of the sector’s most significant corporate transactions. Hayes led United Technologies Corporation, while Kennedy headed Raytheon Company. Their combined leadership helped bring the two businesses together in 2020, creating Raytheon Technologies, now known as RTX Corporation.

Their professional stories offer insight into executive leadership, business strategy, and the changing relationship between commercial aviation and defense technology. Understanding who Greg Hayes and Tom Kennedy are also helps explain the history of RTX, the evolution of Raytheon stock, and the decisions that shaped a major aerospace and defense company.

Quick Bio: Greg Hayes and Tom Kennedy

Note: The table summarizes their professional backgrounds. Their public executive biographies do not establish a family relationship between them.

Who Is Greg Hayes?

Gregory J. Hayes is an American business executive best known for leading United Technologies Corporation and subsequently serving as chief executive officer of the combined Raytheon Technologies business. His career reflects a combination of financial expertise, corporate management, and strategic decision-making.

Hayes joined United Technologies in 1999 through its merger with Sundstrand Corporation. He later became the company’s chief financial officer in 2008, giving him an influential role in financial planning, business performance, and corporate strategy.

In 2014, Hayes was appointed CEO of United Technologies, and he became chairman in 2016. During his leadership, the company pursued significant changes intended to strengthen its aerospace operations and improve its competitive position.

One of the defining moments of his career came in 2020, when United Technologies completed its merger with Raytheon. Hayes became CEO of the combined company, helping oversee the integration of two large organizations with complementary commercial aerospace and defense businesses.

His leadership continued as Raytheon Technologies developed into RTX Corporation. Hayes eventually transitioned from CEO to executive chairman in 2024 and left the company’s board on April 30, 2025.

Who Is Tom Kennedy?

Thomas A. Kennedy, commonly known as Tom Kennedy, is a former aerospace and defense executive who spent decades building his career at Raytheon. He became particularly influential through his leadership of the company before its combination with United Technologies.

Kennedy joined Raytheon in 1983 and held a succession of technical, operational, and management positions. His experience included overseeing business units and working with complex defense systems, giving him a detailed understanding of the company’s products, customers, and long-term priorities.

Before becoming CEO, Kennedy served in senior operational roles, including leadership positions in Raytheon’s Integrated Defense Systems business. In 2014, he became chairman and chief executive officer of Raytheon Company.

Under his leadership, Raytheon continued developing technologies for defense, aerospace, missile systems, sensors, and other security applications. These areas required sustained engineering investment and close collaboration with government customers.

Kennedy played a central role in preparing Raytheon for its combination with United Technologies. Following the merger in April 2020, he became executive chairman of Raytheon Technologies, working alongside Hayes during the company’s initial integration period.

He retired effective June 1, 2021, after approximately 38 years with Raytheon. His long career made him an important figure in the company’s history and its transition into the larger RTX organization.

How Greg Hayes and Tom Kennedy Became Connected

The connection between Hayes and Kennedy developed through their respective leadership positions at United Technologies and Raytheon. Although they managed separate organizations, both executives recognized the potential advantages of combining their businesses.

In June 2019, the companies announced plans for an all-stock merger. The proposed transaction aimed to bring together United Technologies’ aerospace expertise and Raytheon’s defense technology capabilities. The merger was completed on April 3, 2020.

The leadership arrangement reflected the experience each executive brought to the new organization. Hayes became president and CEO of Raytheon Technologies, while Kennedy initially served as executive chairman.

Their responsibilities were complementary. Hayes brought extensive experience in corporate finance, business transformation, and managing a diversified industrial organization. Kennedy contributed decades of experience in defense technology, engineering operations, and running Raytheon’s businesses.

The merger created opportunities for the combined company to coordinate research, engineering, manufacturing, and customer relationships across a wider range of markets. It also introduced the difficult task of integrating different corporate cultures, operations, and business priorities.

Their professional relationship is therefore best understood through this corporate partnership rather than assumptions about a personal friendship or family connection.

Why Did United Technologies Merge With Raytheon?

The merger was designed to create a stronger aerospace and defense business capable of investing in advanced technologies and competing across multiple markets.

United Technologies had significant operations in aerospace systems and commercial aviation. Raytheon, meanwhile, was known for its defense electronics, missile systems, radar technologies, and related government contracts.

Bringing these businesses together offered several potential advantages.

Greater research investment: Aerospace and defense technologies require considerable spending on engineering, testing, and development. A larger organization could coordinate investment across a broader portfolio.

Diversification: Commercial aviation and defense markets respond to different economic conditions. Combining them offered the company a more diversified business structure, although it did not eliminate market risks.

Broader technical capabilities: The merger brought together expertise in aircraft systems, propulsion-related technologies, sensors, electronics, and defense applications.

Long-term competitiveness: The companies expected their combined scale to strengthen their ability to serve customers and develop next-generation products.

However, a merger of this size also presents challenges. Integrating employees, management systems, manufacturing operations, and financial reporting requires careful planning. The expected benefits depend on execution rather than company size alone.

Greg Hayes, Tom Kennedy, and Raytheon Stock

The merger also changed the way investors viewed the businesses involved. Before the transaction, Raytheon Company traded separately from United Technologies. After the combination, the new organization initially operated as Raytheon Technologies Corporation and later adopted the name RTX Corporation.

This distinction is important for anyone researching Raytheon stock.

Historical Raytheon shares refer to the former standalone company, while RTX stock represents the publicly traded company that emerged from the merger. Investors researching historical prices, company performance, or dividend records should identify which entity and period they are examining.

Hayes and Kennedy helped shape the corporate structure behind this transition, but their executive positions alone do not establish whether RTX shares represent an attractive investment.

A meaningful evaluation of RTX stock requires examining current financial statements, revenue growth, profitability, cash flow, debt, defense spending trends, commercial aviation demand, and valuation. Government contracts and international defense developments can influence performance, while supply-chain pressures and manufacturing challenges may create additional risks.

Readers should also distinguish between historical merger announcements and current market information. Share prices and financial forecasts change over time, so current investment decisions should rely on recent company filings and market data rather than past executive statements alone.

Personal Lives, Family, and Public Information

Both executives are primarily known for their professional achievements. Their public corporate biographies focus on education, career development, leadership responsibilities, and board appointments rather than providing extensive information about their private lives.

Information about spouses, children, and other family members should be included in a biography only when supported by reliable public sources. Without clear confirmation, it would be inappropriate to speculate about their family circumstances or present unverified personal details as facts.

Similarly, the phrase “Gregory Hays Meditations” should not be confused with Gregory J. Hayes’s established professional biography. The available corporate career information does not establish a meaningful connection between that phrase and the former RTX executive. It may refer to a different person or an unrelated search result.

Maintaining these distinctions helps keep a business biography accurate and prevents unrelated topics from being incorrectly associated with an individual.

Where Are Greg Hayes and Tom Kennedy Now?

Their active leadership roles at RTX have both ended, although at different times.

Tom Kennedy retired effective June 1, 2021, after serving as executive chairman following the merger. His departure marked the conclusion of a long career at Raytheon, where he had progressed from technical and management roles to the company’s highest executive position.

Greg Hayes remained involved with RTX for longer. After serving as CEO, he transitioned to executive chairman in 2024 and left the company’s board in April 2025.

Their departures represent separate stages in RTX’s corporate development. Kennedy helped lead Raytheon into the merger, while Hayes guided the combined company through its early years and subsequent leadership transition.

Their professional legacies remain connected to the creation of a major aerospace and defense organization, although RTX’s later performance and strategic direction also reflect the decisions of subsequent leaders and broader market conditions.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who are Greg Hayes and Tom Kennedy?

Greg Hayes is the former CEO and executive chairman of RTX and previously led United Technologies. Tom Kennedy is the former chairman and CEO of Raytheon Company who served as executive chairman after the merger.

2. Are Greg Hayes and Tom Kennedy related?

Their documented connection is professional. They led separate companies that merged in 2020, and reliable public corporate biographies do not establish that they are related by family.

3. Did Greg Hayes and Tom Kennedy work at the same company?

Yes. Following the 2020 merger of United Technologies and Raytheon, both served in senior leadership positions at Raytheon Technologies, now RTX Corporation.

4. When did Tom Kennedy retire?

Kennedy retired effective June 1, 2021, after approximately 38 years with Raytheon.

5. When did Greg Hayes leave RTX?

Hayes left RTX’s board on April 30, 2025, after transitioning from CEO to executive chairman in 2024.

6. What happened to Raytheon stock after the merger?

The former Raytheon Company became part of the combined business, which initially traded as Raytheon Technologies under the ticker RTX. The company subsequently adopted the RTX Corporation name.

Conclusion

The story of Greg Hayes and Tom Kennedy illustrates how executive leadership can influence the direction of an entire industry. Hayes brought financial and corporate management experience from United Technologies, while Kennedy contributed decades of aerospace and defense leadership at Raytheon. Their collaboration helped establish the foundation of RTX Corporation, a major company operating across commercial aerospace and defense markets. For readers interested in executive biographies, corporate mergers, or the history of Raytheon stock, their careers provide valuable context. At Brit Current, our goal is to explain the people and business decisions behind major corporate developments in a clear, informative, and accessible way.