The Boeing Company (how to say: /ˈboʊ.ɪŋ/ BOH-ing) (NYSE: BA Archived 2013-09-17 at the Wayback Machine) is an American company which makes aircraft and defense items. The company was started in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington.
Boeing has grown to become very big. It bought its main rival, McDonnell Douglas, in 1997. Boeing moved its headquarters from Seattle to Chicago, Illinois in 2001.