L3 chief Strianese retiring, Kubasik named successor
By
Ross Wilkers
L3 Technologies CEO Michael Strianese will retire from the role at year's end and his successor will be current COO and former Lockheed Martin executive Christopher Kubasik.
L3 Technologies CEO Michael Strianese will retire at the end of the year after 11 years at the helm and be succeeded by Chief Operating Officer Christopher Kubasik in a move to take effect Jan. 1, the company said Wednesday.
Strianese has worked to reshape the New York City-based defense contractor in recent years as he led the 2012 spinoff of its former government services business into the company now known as Engility, plus the 2016 sale of its former National Security Solutions business to CACI International.
Those moves were part of L3's larger shift into being a technology-focused company and led to its rebrand from the original "L3 Communications" name to the current L3 Technologies.
Its recent acquisition moves post-NSS have reflected that strategy including the buys of unmanned underwater vehicle maker OceanServer and undersea power company Open Water Power earlier this year, plus a pair of airport security technology businesses last year.
L3 reported $10.5 billion in revenue last year and is slated to hold its second quarter earnings call with investors next week.
Strianese has been with L3 since its 1997 launch and chairman of the board of directors since 2008. He will remain chairman after his retirement from the CEO role.
Kubasik joined L3 in 2015 as COO and was president and COO at Lockheed Martin between 2010 and 2012. He was slated to become Lockheed's CEO from 2013 onward but was forced to step down in late 2012 over a personal scandal.