Lockheed finance chief exits, acting successor named
By
Ross Wilkers
Lockheed Martin's chief financial officer for the past two years has retired and the company appoints its treasurer to take on those duties as the search begins for a new CFO.
Lockheed Martin has appointed a four-decade company veteran to take over as acting chief financial officer in the wake of the now-former CFO’s sudden retirement.
John Mollard, vice president and treasurer, will step in to take on the CFO role’s responsibilities and Lockheed is conducting a search for a new finance chief after Ken Possenriede told the company he would retire immediately for personal reasons.
Bethesda, Maryland-headquartered is conducting an investor day on Thursday with CEO Jim Taiclet, Mollard and other top company executives slated to present. No reason for Possenriede’s retirement was given in either Lockheed’s statement from Tuesday or a of his resignation letter in a separate regulatory filing.
Mollard has been Lockheed’s treasurer for five years and formerly held leadership roles in the company’s finance and business operations functions.
"Given his nearly four decades with Lockheed Martin and familiarity with the company's businesses, stakeholders and capital structure, John is uniquely suited to lead our finance organization while our search process is underway," Taiclet said. "We are proud to have a deep bench of talent and thank John for stepping into the CFO role on an interim basis."
Possenriede became CFO in 2019 and has helped guide Lockheed through the coronavirus pandemic that disrupted the entire defense industry’s supply chain, including many of the company’s small business partners.
Lockheed has in the meantime accelerated payments to those suppliers in an effort to help shore up their cash flow situations.