Boeing vs Mastercard: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: Boeing and Mastercard side by side

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 1966Mastercard

   Interbank Card Association Takes Shape

   A group of U.S. Banks formed the Interbank Card Association to make card acceptance work across institutions rather than inside isolated bank programs.

7. 1968Mastercard

   Master Charge Brand Adopted

   The association adopted the Master Charge name and interlocking-circle design to give member banks a stronger shared identity. A common brand made the network easier for merchants and consumers to recognize as acceptance expanded beyond local bank programs.

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. 1979Mastercard

   Master Charge Becomes MasterCard

   The network changed its name from Master Charge to MasterCard as it became more international. The rebrand simplified recognition and helped the company present itself as a global acceptance network rather than a domestic bank-card association.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 2002Mastercard

    Europay Merger and Corporate Conversion

    MasterCard merged with Europay International and converted from a membership association into a private share corporation. That structure prepared the company for public-market ownership and a more independent investment agenda.

13. 2006Mastercard

    Initial Public Offering on the NYSE

    MasterCard priced its initial public offering at $39 per share and listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MA.

14. 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…

15. 2017Mastercard

    Vocalink Expands Real-Time Payments

    Mastercard completed its Vocalink acquisition after announcing a deal for 92.4 percent of the U.K. Payments infrastructure company for about $920 million.

16. 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.

17. 2020Mastercard

    Finicity Strengthens Open Banking

    Mastercard completed the acquisition of Finicity, a North American financial data and open banking platform. The deal added consumer-permissioned data connectivity for lending, account verification, personal finance, and account-based payment use cases.

18. 2021Mastercard

    Michael Miebach Becomes CEO

    Michael Miebach became chief executive officer on January 1, 2021 after serving as chief product officer and president.

19. 2021Mastercard

    Nets Account-to-Account Business Closes

    Mastercard completed the acquisition of the majority of Nets' Corporate Services business, adding clearing and settlement instant payment infrastructure, bill payment, and e-invoicing capabilities.

20. 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…

21. 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.

22. 2024Mastercard

    Recorded Future Adds Threat Intelligence

    Mastercard completed the acquisition of Recorded Future, adding AI-enabled threat intelligence to its cybersecurity, identity, and real-time fraud scoring services.

23. 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.

24. 2025Mastercard

    $32.8B FY2025 Net Revenue

    Mastercard reported $32.791 billion in FY2025 net revenue and $14.968 billion in net income.

25. 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.

26. 2026Mastercard

    BVNK Adds Stablecoin Infrastructure

    Mastercard closed its acquisition of stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK on August 3, 2026, for up to $1.8 billion including contingent payments. The deal extends the company's network to on-chain payments alongside cards and bank transfers.

Acquisitions

Questions about Boeing vs Mastercard