L3Harris Technologies has removed Christopher Kubasik as chairman and chief executive, effective immediately, after a board investigation found that L3Harris CEO Christopher Kubasik had violated the company’s code of conduct. The board acted with the assistance of independent counsel, and the company stated the matter had no bearing on its financial reporting, internal controls, customer relationships or operational performance.
Kubasik will receive no severance payments or benefits and no accelerated vesting of unvested equity awards, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. He will be permitted to retain and exercise certain stock options that had already vested.
Sam Mehta appointed president and CEO
The board named Sam Mehta as president and chief executive and appointed him as a director. Mehta had been leading the company’s Space and Mission Systems and Communications and Spectrum Dominance segments, which together account for more than 80% of L3Harris revenue. He joined L3Harris in 2023 after serving as president of Advanced Structures at Collins Aerospace, and previously spent more than 17 years at Sikorsky.
Lead independent director Lewis Hay III has been named chairman, taking over the board role that Kubasik held alongside his executive position.
L3Harris CEO Christopher Kubasik’s second conduct departure
The dismissal is the second time Kubasik has lost a senior aerospace and defence role following a conduct investigation. In 2012, Lockheed Martin removed him just weeks before he was scheduled to assume the chief executive position, after an ethics investigation found he had maintained a close personal relationship with a subordinate employee. Lockheed stated at the time that the relationship violated its code of ethics but did not affect the company’s operational or financial performance.
L3Harris has not disclosed the nature of the conduct at issue in its current investigation. Semafor, citing two people briefed on the investigation, reported that Kubasik was removed after an independent probe found he had engaged in an inappropriate relationship with an employee.
Kubasik was a central figure in the 2019 merger of L3 Technologies and Harris Corp. that created L3Harris Technologies, and subsequently led the combined group as it expanded across defence electronics, communications, space systems, propulsion and other military markets. Under his tenure, L3Harris completed the modification of a Boeing 747-8 donated by Qatar for use in the presidential airlift fleet, and has been expanding solid-rocket-motor production through its Aerojet Rocketdyne business.
Despite the abrupt leadership change, L3Harris reaffirmed its previously issued 2026 financial guidance and stated that its operational and strategic priorities remain unchanged. The company’s position on operational continuity echoes the language used after the Lockheed episode more than a decade ago, when both parties were careful to separate the personal conduct findings from any business impact.
For the trade, the appointment of Mehta, whose background spans two of the company’s largest revenue-generating segments, signals that L3Harris intends to maintain course on its existing programme commitments and defence contracts rather than signalling any strategic pivot. The board’s decision to strip Kubasik of severance and unvested equity sends a clear message on accountability, and the speed of the succession suggests contingency planning was already in place.
