New Lockheed Martin president and chief operating office Louis Hughes has resigned after barely six months in the job, citing family reasons. He has been replaced by chief financial officer Robert Stevens, the architect of Lockheed Martin's financial turnaround and popular with Wall Street. Stevens will continue as CFO until a replacement is found.
Hughes joined the Bethesda, Maryland-headquartered aerospace giant in April from General Motors. He says he is stepping down to avoid being separated from his Chicago-based family.
After Hughes' predecessor, Peter Teets, resigned a year ago, taking responsibility for the company's poor financial performance, Lockheed Martin deliberately looked outside for a new president in a bid to restore Wall Street's confidence. But Stevens, a 27-year industry veteran, is credited with engineering Lockheed Martin's financial recovery.
Stevens championed the concept of "managing for cash": reducing the company's massive debt by reducing capital expenditure and increasing free cashflow. In his short tenure, Hughes introduced the idea of "technology mining" - unlocking commercial opportunities for the company's military technologies, and Stevens plans to expand on this.
Source: Flight International
