Assurant vs Boeing: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: Assurant and Boeing side by side

1. 1892Assurant

   La Crosse Mutual Aid Association formed

   Assurant traces its history to the La Crosse Mutual Aid Association, established in La Crosse, Wisconsin in 1892 to provide consumers with disability insurance. No founder of the association is named in the company own histories.

2. 1910Assurant

   Licensed as Time Insurance Company

   The Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance records Time Insurance Company, the successor to the La Crosse Mutual Aid Association, as originally licensed as an insurer in 1910.

3. 1916Boeing

   Pacific Aero Products Company Incorporated

   William Boeing incorporates Pacific Aero Products Co. on July 15, 1916 in Seattle, a month after the B&W seaplane he built with George Conrad Westervelt first flew from Lake Union on June 15.

4. 1917Boeing

   Renamed The Boeing Airplane Company; First Military Contract

   The company is renamed The Boeing Airplane Company in April 1917 following co-founder George Westervelt's return to active Navy duty, and secures its first meaningful military contract when the U.S. Navy orders the improved Model C floatplane.

5. 1927Boeing

   Boeing Air Transport Wins San Francisco-Chicago Airmail Route

   Boeing forms Boeing Air Transport and wins the U.S. Post Office airmail contract for the San Francisco to Chicago route, the most commercially valuable domestic airmail route, initiating Boeing's involvement in commercial aviation beyond manufacturing.

6. 1933Boeing

   Boeing 247 Introduced as the First Modern Airliner

   Boeing introduces the Model 247, widely recognized as the world's first modern commercial airliner, featuring all-metal construction, retractable landing gear, a cantilevered wing, and variable-pitch propellers.

7. 1954Boeing

   Dash 80 Jet Prototype First Flies

   The 367-80, or Dash 80, first flies on July 15, 1954, the company's 38th anniversary. Funded with about $16 million of Boeing's own money, it leads to the KC-135 tanker for the Air Force and the 707 airliner, which enters service with Pan Am in 1958.

8. 1969Boeing

   Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet Makes First Flight

   The 747, the first wide-body jetliner, first flies on February 9, 1969 and enters service with Pan Am in January 1970.

9. 1978Assurant

   N.V. AMEV of the Netherlands buys Time Insurance

   Dutch insurer N.V. AMEV acquired Time Insurance Company through its US holding company, AMEV Holdings, Inc., then expanded it by buying American Security Insurance, United Family, Western Insurance Company and Superior Insurance over the next 12 years.

10. 1991Assurant

    AMEV Holdings renamed Fortis, Inc.

    After AMEV combined with VSB Groep NV in 1990 to create Fortis, the US holding company AMEV Holdings, Inc. was rebranded Fortis, Inc. in 1991. It acquired John Alden in 1998.

11. 1994Boeing

    Boeing 777 First Flight

    The Boeing 777, the world's largest twin-engine commercial aircraft and the first airliner designed entirely using computer-aided design tools without physical mock-ups, makes its inaugural flight on June 12, 1994.

12. 1997Boeing

    Boeing Merges with McDonnell Douglas

    Boeing completes its $13.3 billion acquisition of McDonnell Douglas, creating a single dominant American aerospace and defense company and ending more than two decades of three-way commercial aircraft competition.

13. 1999Assurant

    Fortis acquires American Bankers Insurance

    Fortis, Inc. bought American Bankers Insurance Group of Miami, adding credit insurance and specialty warranty underwriting that became the core of the modern specialty lines. Fortis sold its life insurance business to The Hartford in 2001.

14. 2004Assurant

    NYSE listing as Assurant, Inc.

    Fortis took the US business public on February 5, 2004 in a $1.76 billion initial public offering, the fourth largest of that year, and renamed it Assurant, Inc. The company was incorporated as a Delaware corporation in 2004 and trades as AIZ.

15. 2006Assurant

    Robert B. Pollock succeeds J. Kerry Clayton as CEO

    Founding chief executive J. Kerry Clayton retired on March 17, 2006 and was succeeded by Robert B. Pollock, then president and chief operating officer, who also joined the board that day.

16. 2009Boeing

    Boeing 787 Dreamliner First Flight

    The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the first commercial aircraft built primarily from carbon-fiber composite materials, makes its first flight on December 15, 2009 more than two years behind its original 2007 schedule following extensive supply chain difficulties with…

17. 2013Assurant

    New York consent order on force-placed insurance

    Assurant, American Security Insurance Company and American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida settled a New York Department of Financial Services investigation into force-placed homeowners insurance on March 21, 2013, paying a $14 million penalty plus homeow…

18. 2015Assurant

    Exit from health insurance and employee benefits

    On June 10, 2015 Assurant announced it would leave the health insurance marketplace and wind down Assurant Health, and on September 9, 2015 it agreed to sell its employee benefits business to Sun Life for $940 million.

19. 2018Assurant

    The Warranty Group acquisition closes

    Assurant completed its purchase of The Warranty Group from TPG Capital on May 31, 2018 for a total enterprise value of about $2.5 billion, expanding vehicle service contracts and international retail protection. Assurant also sold Time Insurance in 2018.

20. 2019Boeing

    737 MAX Grounded Worldwide Following Two Fatal Crashes

    After the Lion Air Flight 610 crash in October 2018 and the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash in March 2019, which killed 346 people, regulators ground the 737 MAX worldwide.

21. 2020Assurant

    HYLA Mobile acquisition closes

    Assurant closed its acquisition of smartphone trade-in and upgrade provider HYLA Mobile on December 1, 2020, in a transaction the company valued at about $325 million, roughly doubling its device processing volumes.

22. 2021Assurant

    Global Preneed sold to CUNA Mutual Group

    Assurant closed the sale of its prearranged funeral and final expense business to CUNA Mutual Group on August 2, 2021 for about $1.35 billion, generating roughly $1.2 billion of net proceeds, and said it intended to return about $900 million of that through sh…

23. 2022Assurant

    Keith Demmings becomes CEO and headquarters moves to Atlanta

    Keith W. Demmings became president and chief executive officer in January 2022, succeeding Alan B. Colberg, who retired at the end of 2021 after seven years in the role.

24. 2022Boeing

    Boeing Relocates Corporate Headquarters to Arlington, Virginia

    Boeing formally moves its corporate headquarters from Chicago, Illinois, to Arlington, Virginia, placing its senior executive team adjacent to the Pentagon and within close proximity to Congress and the regulatory agencies that govern both its defense and comm…

25. 2024Assurant

    iSmash acquired in the United Kingdom

    Assurant acquired UK tech repair retailer iSmash on April 4, 2024, giving it 68 drop-in repair locations in the UK under the iSmash and Pocket Geek Tech Repair banners. Assurant also sold its mainland China operations during 2024.

26. 2024Boeing

    Door-Plug Blowout, Machinists Strike, and Leadership Transition

    Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 experiences a door-plug blowout at 16,000 feet on January 5, triggering a FAA production cap on 737 MAX and a congressional investigation into Boeing's quality management.

27. 2025Assurant

    FY2025 revenue of $12.81B and the OptoFidelity purchase

    Assurant reported FY2025 revenue of $12.81 billion and GAAP net income of $872.7 million, its ninth consecutive year of profitable growth, launched Assurant Home Warranty, and in October 2025 acquired OptoFidelity mobile device test automation portfolio to add…

28. 2025Boeing

    F-47 Win, Strike in St. Louis, Spirit Buyback and a Return to Profit

    The Air Force selects Boeing's F-47 as its sixth-generation fighter in March. Boeing sells Jeppesen and other digital units to Thoma Bravo for $10.55 billion, the FAA raises the 737 cap to 42 a month in October, a 102-day strike at St.

29. 2026Assurant

    RL Circular Operations acquired in Australia and New Zealand

    In January 2026 Assurant acquired RL Circular Operations, formerly TIC Reverse Logistics, the reverse logistics division of Australia and New Zealand based TIC Group, extending its post-purchase and circular economy capabilities across Asia Pacific.

30. 2026Boeing

    737-7 Certified, F/A-XX Win and a 737-10 Setback

    Backlog reaches a record $715 billion at June 30. The FAA certifies the 737-7 on August 3, then on September 28 holds 737-10 certification over a flight-management software issue. On September 29 the Navy selects Boeing to build the F/A-XX fighter.

Acquisitions

Questions about Assurant vs Boeing