Lockheed Martin CFO Abruptly Retires for ‘Personal Reasons’

(Bloomberg) -- Lockheed Martin Corp. Chief Financial Officer Ken Possenriede is retiring immediately “due to personal reasons” and will be replaced on an interim basis by a longtime company veteran. 

The surprise exit comes two days before Lockheed, the world’s largest defense contractor, is slated to host a conference for investors. John Mollard, the corporate treasurer, will step in as acting CFO for Possenriede, who had held the top financial role since 2019 at the Bethesda, Maryland-based company.

Possenriede’s abrupt departure isn’t related to any “financial or accounting issue or any disagreement with the company or any matter relating to the company’s operations, policies or practices,” Lockheed said Tuesday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. A company spokesman declined to elaborate. 

Possenriede sent a two-sentence letter to Chief Executive Officer Jim Taiclet announcing his retirement. The departing CFO was 60 as of Lockheed’s last annual report to securities regulators. 

Mollard, 64, will serve as CFO until the company finds a permanent replacement. He took over the treasurer role five years ago and before that served as a vice president for corporate financial planning and analysis for 13 years. 

“John is uniquely suited to lead our finance organization while our search process is under way,” Taiclet said in a statement.

Lockheed earlier said it would take a $1.3 billion after-tax charge in the third quarter and lower its full-year earnings outlook by $4.75 a share after transferring $4.9 billion of its pension obligations to Athene Holding Ltd. 

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