Legacy & history
More than a century of engineering, business development and reinvention.
Lynch Glass Machinery · 1917
Our roots reach back to Lynch Glass Machinery Company and the equipment that helped industrialize glass forming. The business was built around an exacting challenge: making complex physical processes work reliably, repeatedly and at scale.
A 1925 patent assigned to Lynch Glass Machinery captures that practical engineering spirit. James W. Lynch designed a traveling funnel that guided molten glass into molds as they moved around a rotating table. By coordinating the funnel with the molds, the invention addressed the repeated stopping and starting of earlier machines.
The drawing is a window into the company’s origins: careful attention to motion, timing and the machinery that makes production possible.
Explore the original patent ↗
Five chapters
01
1917–1963 · Glass machinery
Lynch Glass Machinery began in 1917, during a period when manufacturers were bringing greater speed and consistency to glass production. Its story starts with machines, mechanisms and practical inventions that helped shape an industrial process.
02
1964–1984 · An industrial group
Under Curtiss-Wright control, Lynch expanded its industrial interests. The 1976 acquisition of M-tron Industries, Inc. (“Mtron”) added frequency-control technology, creating a connection to precision electronics that would shape the company for decades.
03
1985–2003 · Ownership and enterprise
In 1985, companies affiliated with Gabelli Funds acquired a majority interest in Lynch. Mario Gabelli became Chairman and CEO in 1986. Investments in financial services, transportation and telecommunications broadened the group, while public offerings, sales and spin-offs reshaped its holdings.
04
2004–2022 · Precision electronics
Marc Gabelli was elected Chairman in September 2004. Mtron’s acquisition of Piezo Technology that year deepened the precision-electronics business. The company adopted the name The LGL Group, Inc. in 2006, acquired PTF in 2016 and completed the Mtron spin-off in 2022.
05
2023–today · A holding platform
The launch of Lynch Capital International in 2023 established a vehicle for Merchant Investment. Today, LGL combines that activity with Platform Operations anchored by PTF, continuing to develop businesses and relationships around critical technologies.
Company chronology
A selected chronology of the businesses, leadership transitions and corporate events that shaped the company.
1917
The predecessor to LGL is established, developing machinery for the glass-forming industry.
1925
James W. Lynch’s traveling funnel guide receives U.S. Patent 1,531,561. The design coordinates the delivery of molten glass with moving molds.
1928
The company is incorporated in Indiana, establishing the corporate lineage that continues through LGL.
1946
Lynch lists on the New York Curb Exchange, a predecessor to today’s NYSE American.
1964–1976
Curtiss-Wright acquires control in 1964. Lynch acquires Mtron in 1976, adding frequency-control components.
1985–1986
Companies affiliated with Gabelli Funds acquire a majority stake in 1985, including Curtiss-Wright’s interest. Mario Gabelli becomes Chairman and CEO in 1986.
1986–1989
Lynch Capital and Lynch Asset Management are formed; investments include Tremont Partners, entertainment and industrial businesses. Morgan Drive Away is acquired in 1988, followed by the creation of Lynch Telephone and the acquisition of Western New Mexico Telephone in 1989.
1991–1997
Lynch expands its telecommunications holdings. Tremont becomes publicly traded through a rights offering to Lynch shareholders in 1992. The Morgan Group becomes public in 1993 and grows its transportation operations. Industrial holdings evolve through Spinnaker Industries.
1999–2002
On September 1, 1999, Lynch Corporation distributes Lynch Interactive Corporation—today LICT—to shareholders. In January 2002, the independent Lynch Interactive distributes Morgan Group Holding Co. to its shareholders.
Read the LICT case study →2002–2004
Mtron acquires Champion Technologies assets in 2002 and Piezo Technology in 2004. Marc Gabelli is elected Chairman on September 20, 2004, following earlier board service in 2003–2004.
2006–2007
Lynch Corporation adopts the name The LGL Group, Inc. in 2006. In 2007, the company reincorporates in Delaware and announces the sale of the legacy Lynch Systems business.
2014–2016
Mtron adds Trilithic filter assets in 2014. LGL acquires the assets of Precise Time and Frequency in 2016.
2022
LGL completes the spin-off of Mtron, which begins trading independently on NYSE American under MPTI.
2023
A new subsidiary is established to facilitate LGL’s Merchant Investment activity.
2026
Jason D. Lamb becomes CEO. LGL announces its Skyline Instruments investment, completes its subscription rights offering, establishes its Arlington headquarters and redomesticates to Nevada.
The wider company chronology includes decades of innovation by Mtron and Piezo Technology: monolithic crystal filters in the 1960s, space applications in the 1970s, oscillator and resonator development in the 1980s, and expanded filter and timing capabilities in the decades that followed. These are milestones of businesses that contributed to LGL’s history; Mtron has operated as an independent public company since 2022.
Historical sources: LGL corporate chronology; 2023 Annual Report; 2005 proxy statement; subsequent company announcements and SEC filings. Patent image: United States Patent Office, U.S. Patent 1,531,561 (1925), digitized patent record.
From our history · Mtron
LGL helped develop Mtron’s precision-electronics capabilities over decades, then distributed the business to shareholders as an independent public company in 2022. Explore the operating story, the one-for-two distribution and Mtron’s subsequent performance.
Mtron has operated independently since October 7, 2022. LGL retained no equity interest after the spin-off.
The next chapter
Today’s LGL brings operating experience and investment discipline to the development of businesses in critical technologies.