CEO Of Defense Contractor L3Harris Technologies Leaves Post Over ‘Conduct.’ Its Stock Dropped.

Defense contracting giant L3Harris Technologies has ousted its CEO over "certain conduct" that was inconsistent with the company's values, the company announced in a statement.

The document did not specify what the conduct was but did say it had reached a separation agreement with Chris Kubasik, who was also the chairman of the board. He had led the company, valued at more than $51 billion, as CEO since 2021. Its stock dropped on Monday and paired some gains at the beginning of Tuesday's session.

Sam Mehta is taking over as President and Chief Executive Officer and Lewis Hay III will become independent chairman of the board. Mehta previously served as the company's president of the Space & Mission Systems and Communications & Spectrum Dominance segments, while Hay was company's lead independent director.

"Chris has overseen significant transformation during his tenure at L3Harris, and he has built a strong team to carry the business forward. However, our values guide the actions we take each day," Hay said. "The Board and Chris have agreed that implementing our succession plan today is the right thing to do."

Just over seven months ago, L3Harris received a $1 billion convertible preferred equity investment from the U.S. Defense Department, CNBC reported. The investment was made in the company's missile solutions business. As part of that deal, the missile solutions business is supposed to become a separate company sometime in 2026 or 2027.

The network also reported that L3Harris was the company that modified a 747 jumbo jet that was gifted by Qatar to the United States to serve as a new Air Force One for President Donald Trump.

In its statement, the company was clear that Kubasik's conduct was not related to "financial reporting, controls, customer relationships, or operational performance."

This is not the first time that Kubasik has had to step aside over "conduct" related matters.

In November 2012, Kubasik was the COO of Lockheed Martin and was going to take over as CEO beginning in 2013, NPR reported. Instead, Kubasik, then 51, was forced out over a relationship with a subordinate.

"Kubasik, previously slated to become CEO in January, resigned after an ethics investigation confirmed that he had a close personal relationship with a subordinate employee," Lockheed said in a statement. "His actions violated the company's Code of Ethics and Business Conduct, but did not affect the company's operational or financial performance."

Semafor reported that Kubasik's conduct at L3Harris again involved an inappropriate relationship with an employee. The outlet cited two anonymous sources who it said had been briefed on the results of an independent investigation.