There is no verified public evidence that Brad Pitt and Greg Hayes, meaning former RTX chief executive Gregory J. Hayes, are relatives, business partners, or professional collaborators. They are prominent figures in very different fields: Pitt in film and entertainment, Hayes in aerospace, defense, and corporate leadership.
One likely reason the names may appear together in searches is Brad Pitt’s role as Sonny Hayes in F1 The Movie. Sonny Hayes is a fictional racing driver played by Pitt. He is not based on Gregory J. Hayes, and the official film materials do not identify the former RTX executive as having any role in the production.
Who Are Brad Pitt and Greg Hayes?
Brad Pitt is an American actor and film producer whose career has included Fight Club, Moneyball, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, 12 Years a Slave, Bullet Train, and F1 The Movie. Gregory J. Hayes, usually known professionally as Greg Hayes, is an American business executive best known for leading United Technologies and later RTX, formerly Raytheon Technologies.
Their careers have developed independently, and authoritative records documenting each man’s professional work do not establish a direct relationship between them.
| Person | Primary field | Best known for | Current/recent status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brad Pitt | Film and entertainment | Acting, producing, Plan B projects, F1 The Movie | Active actor and producer |
| Gregory J. Hayes | Aerospace, defense and corporate governance | Former CEO and Executive Chairman of RTX | Corporate director and board leader |
Brad Pitt’s Career and Current Role in Hollywood
William Bradley Pitt was born on December 18, 1963, in Shawnee, Oklahoma. His breakthrough period included Thelma & Louise, A River Runs Through It, Legends of the Fall, Seven, 12 Monkeys, and Fight Club. He later built a career that combined major acting roles with increasingly significant work as a producer.
Pitt won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Cliff Booth in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood at the 2020 Oscars.
His producing career is equally important. Pitt was among the producers who received the Best Picture Oscar for 12 Years a Slave at the 2014 Academy Awards. He was also a Best Picture nominee as a producer of Moneyball and The Big Short.
Brad Pitt and F1 The Movie
The Hayes surname becomes particularly relevant when looking at Pitt’s recent film work.
In F1 The Movie, Pitt plays Sonny Hayes, a fictional former Formula One driver whose career was derailed by a serious racing accident. Decades later, the character returns to Formula One to drive for the fictional APXGP team alongside rookie Joshua Pearce, played by Damson Idris.
Pitt was not only the lead actor. He was also one of the film’s producers, alongside Jerry Bruckheimer, Joseph Kosinski, Lewis Hamilton, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Chad Oman.
The Academy nominated F1 for Best Picture at the 98th Academy Awards in 2026, listing Brad Pitt among its producers. The film also won the Academy Award for Sound.
This creates an obvious possibility for search confusion:
Brad Pitt = actor playing Sonny Hayes
Greg Hayes = real corporate executive
They are separate people, and nothing in Apple’s official cast and production information indicates that Gregory J. Hayes inspired Sonny Hayes or participated in the movie.
Was Sonny Hayes based on Greg Hayes?
No credible evidence supports that idea.
Brad Pitt has specifically discussed the background used to develop Sonny Hayes. In a 2025 Formula 1 interview, Pitt said the character’s past was built partly around former Formula One driver Martin Donnelly’s 1990 crash at Jerez. Donnelly survived a near-fatal accident during practice for the Spanish Grand Prix.
That documented inspiration makes a connection to former RTX executive Greg Hayes even less likely.
Who Is Gregory J. Hayes?
Gregory J. Hayes is a longtime American corporate executive whose career is centered on aerospace, defense, finance and large-company management rather than entertainment.
Hayes spent nearly 21 years at United Technologies Corporation after joining UTC through its merger with Sundstrand. He eventually became UTC’s chief executive in 2014 and chairman in 2016.
As CEO, Hayes oversaw major structural changes at United Technologies. These included the sale of Sikorsky Aircraft, the acquisition of Rockwell Collins and the separation of Carrier and Otis.
Most significantly, he helped lead the 2020 combination of UTC’s aerospace operations, including Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace, with Raytheon Company. The transaction created Raytheon Technologies, which subsequently adopted the name RTX Corporation.
Greg Hayes at RTX
Hayes became chief executive of the combined aerospace and defense company and later served as chairman.
RTX announced a planned leadership transition under which Christopher T. Calio succeeded Hayes as CEO in May 2024. Hayes remained Executive Chairman afterward.
In February 2025, RTX announced that Hayes would step down as Executive Chairman and leave the company’s board on April 30, 2025. He subsequently served as a special adviser to the CEO through January 2, 2026.
RTX’s 2026 proxy statement confirms that Hayes had left the Executive Chairman position and that Calio succeeded him as chairman.
What Is Greg Hayes Doing Now?
Hayes has remained active in corporate governance after leaving RTX’s senior leadership.
In May 2026, Phillips 66 appointed him Lead Independent Director. Phillips 66 also identifies Hayes as chair of its Nominating and Governance Committee and as a member of several other board committees.
He also serves on the board of Becton, Dickinson and Company, commonly known as BD. The medical technology company elected him to its board in March 2025, and its current governance materials list him as a director.
Hayes is also chairman of NAF, an education-focused nonprofit organization.
Phillips 66 states that Hayes holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Purdue University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Brad Pitt and Greg Hayes: What Is Their Actual Connection?
Based on reliable public records, there is no established direct connection between Brad Pitt and Gregory J. Hayes.
There is no documented indication in the authoritative sources reviewed that:
- they are related;
- they have operated a company together;
- Hayes has financed or produced a Brad Pitt film;
- Pitt has held a role in an RTX, United Technologies or Phillips 66 business associated with Hayes;
- they share a known charitable foundation or formal nonprofit partnership;
- Gregory J. Hayes was involved in F1 The Movie.
Instead, their documented professional histories run through separate industries. Pitt’s record centers on acting and film production, while Hayes’s centers on aerospace, defense and corporate boards.
Also Read: Rodolphe Saade and Greg Hayes
Why Are Brad Pitt and Greg Hayes Being Searched Together?
The most plausible explanation is name confusion surrounding Sonny Hayes, Brad Pitt’s character in F1 The Movie.
Anyone seeing headlines such as “Brad Pitt as Hayes” or searching for information about “Brad Pitt Hayes” could easily combine the actor’s name with that of a real person called Greg Hayes.
Official Apple and Formula One material consistently identifies Pitt’s character as Sonny Hayes, however.
There is another complication. “Greg Hayes” is not a unique name. A film-industry professional named Greg Hayes has worked in music recording and scoring on numerous productions, including Frozen II, Luca and Good Night Oppy. Industry records identify that Greg Hayes as a scoring mixer and sound professional.
That person should not be confused with Gregory J. Hayes, the former RTX CEO.
For searches that pair Brad Pitt with a prominent business executive, Gregory J. Hayes is usually the more relevant interpretation. If a specific film credit is involved, however, the entertainment-industry Greg Hayes could be a different person entirely.
Brad Pitt and Greg Hayes Compared
Although both are prominent American professionals, their careers have little substantive overlap.
| Category | Brad Pitt | Gregory J. Hayes |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Bradley Pitt | Gregory J. Hayes |
| Main industry | Film and entertainment | Aerospace, defense and corporate leadership |
| Major leadership role | Actor and producer | Former CEO and Executive Chairman of RTX |
| Notable recent project | F1 The Movie | Corporate board leadership |
| “Hayes” connection | Plays fictional Sonny Hayes | Hayes is his actual surname |
| RTX connection | None publicly established | Former CEO and Executive Chairman |
| F1 The Movie connection | Star and producer | None publicly documented |
| Relationship to the other | No verified relationship | No verified relationship |
Do Brad Pitt and Greg Hayes Have a Financial Connection?
No reliable public evidence currently establishes a financial relationship between Pitt and Gregory J. Hayes.
Brad Pitt’s documented commercial activities are primarily connected to entertainment and film production. Gregory Hayes’s publicly documented career centers on United Technologies, RTX and corporate board work at companies including Phillips 66 and BD.
Public-company filings provide extensive disclosures concerning Hayes’s employment, compensation and board positions, yet the cited RTX, Phillips 66 and BD records do not identify Pitt as a related business partner or participant.
It would therefore be inappropriate to claim a shared investment, partnership or financial arrangement without new evidence.
Are Brad Pitt and Greg Hayes Related?
There is no credible public source establishing a family relationship between Brad Pitt and Gregory J. Hayes.
Sharing a professional association with the surname “Hayes” does not indicate a family connection. Pitt’s legal name is William Bradley Pitt, while Hayes’s documented name is Gregory J. Hayes.
The Hayes name attached to Pitt in recent entertainment coverage comes primarily from his fictional F1 character, Sonny Hayes.
What Readers Should Take From the Keyword
The phrase Brad Pitt and Greg Hayes appears to combine two unrelated public figures rather than describing an established partnership or personal relationship.
The key distinction is simple:
Brad Pitt plays Sonny Hayes in F1 The Movie. Gregory J. Hayes is a real former aerospace executive. They are not the same person, and reliable public records do not establish a direct relationship between them.
That distinction also prevents another common mistake: assuming that Sonny Hayes is a real Formula One driver. He is a fictional character, although elements of his backstory drew inspiration from real racing history, including Martin Donnelly’s 1990 accident.
FAQ
Who is Greg Hayes in relation to Brad Pitt?
No verified personal or professional relationship has been established between Brad Pitt and former RTX executive Gregory J. Hayes. They work in separate industries and should not be presented as business partners or relatives.
Does Greg Hayes appear in Brad Pitt’s F1 movie?
Gregory J. Hayes is not identified in official Apple or Formula One cast and production information for F1 The Movie. Brad Pitt plays a fictional character named Sonny Hayes.
Is Brad Pitt’s Sonny Hayes based on Greg Hayes?
There is no evidence that Sonny Hayes was based on Gregory J. Hayes. Pitt has said that former Formula One driver Martin Donnelly’s 1990 crash helped inspire the fictional driver’s backstory.
Who is Gregory J. Hayes?
Gregory J. Hayes is the former CEO and Executive Chairman of RTX Corporation and previously led United Technologies. As of 2026, he serves as Lead Independent Director of Phillips 66, is a director of BD and chairs the board of NAF.
Who does Brad Pitt play in F1 The Movie?
Brad Pitt plays Sonny Hayes, a fictional former Formula One driver who returns to racing with the fictional APXGP team. Pitt also served as one of the film’s producers.
Are Brad Pitt and Greg Hayes related?
No reliable public source establishes that Brad Pitt and Gregory J. Hayes are family members. The similarity arises primarily because Pitt recently played a fictional character whose surname is Hayes.
Also Read: Steve Cahillane and Greg Hayes
