Lockheed fires incoming CEO for having improper relationship

On the same day that Washington was rocked by the resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus, the defense contractor announced that Christopher Kubasik was being let go for having a "close personal relationship" with a subordinate. The employee has left the company. Kubasik, who was set to start his new job in January, will be getting a $3.5 million payment (wonder how much the subordinate got). The company has named Marillyn Hewson to the chief executive position - and no, she isn't the first woman to be running a major defense company: Linda Hudson is CEO of BAE Systems and Phebe Novakovic will become chief executive of General Dynamics in January. From the WSJ:

Lockheed hired external investigators to examine the allegation. Lockheed directors had an emergency board meeting Friday and "made the decision" to promote Ms. Hewson, according to a person knowledgeable about the situation. Directors had been mulling the switch for several days, this person said. Some directors preferred seeking an outsider, this person said. At the end of their discussions, a majority of Lockheed Martin directors favored promoting Ms. Hewson, partly because she performed well in other management roles, the person said.

[CUT]

This person said Ms. Hewson did especially well running Lockheed's electronics-systems business, and likely will follow that model in leading the company. She closed a plant, shrunk another facility in half and got disparate parts of the business to work together, this person recalled. "She broke down the silos.'' She should flourish as Lockheed's CEO because "every business she has ever touched [there] has done better,'' the informed individual said. Ms. Hewson said on the call with reporters that she didn't foresee any changes in company strategy.