Ian King | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 24 April 1956 |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Title | former CEO BAE Systems |
| Term | 2008 – 30 June 2017 |
| Predecessor | Michael Turner |
| Successor | Charles Woodburn |
| Spouse | married |
| Children | 1 |
Ian Graham King (born 24 April 1956) is a British businessman who was the CEO of BAE Systems from 2008 to 2017. [1] Until 20 June 2014 he was a non-executive director of Rotork plc. [2] He is currently Chairman of Senior plc. [3]
BAE Systems was created by a merger of Marconi Electronic Systems and British Aerospace. King joined BAE from Marconi. Previous roles include Chief executive officer (CEO) of Alenia Marconi Systems, a partnership between Marconi and Finmeccanica, Finance Director and Deputy managing director of Marconi Electronic Systems and non-Executive Director of the Canadian Marconi Company. [4] [5]
When BAE Systems was created in November 1999, King was named Group Strategy & Planning Director. In December 2000 King was appointed group managing director of BAE Systems Customer Solutions and Support. [6]
In November 2006, BAE Systems appointed King chief operating officer from 1 January 2007. He was promoted in what The Financial Times described as "in part... to improve relations with the MoD further". [7] This followed a general improvement in relations since acrimony in 2003. The previous co-COOs were Chris Geoghegan and Steve Mogford. The Independent described King's appointment as COO as part of the "succession battle" to succeed BAE CEO Michael Turner. [8]
In October 2007, BAE Systems announced that its CEO Mike Turner would step down from his role in 2008. [9] While King was always named as a candidate to replace him as CEO, press reports suggested BAE would prefer an American CEO due to the increasing importance of the United States defence market to the company and the opportunity to make a clean break from corruption allegations and investigations related to the Al Yamamah contracts. [10] [11] However, on 27 June 2008, BAE announced that it had selected King to succeed Turner with effect from 1 September 2008; The Financial Times noted that King's career at Marconi distances him from the British Aerospace-led Al Yamamah project. [10] For this role he was paid an annual base salary of £982,300. [12]
King announced his intended retirement, on 30 June 2017, to the board on 22 February. It was confirmed that Charles Woodburn, the Chief Operating Officer, would be appointed in his place. [13]
He is married with one son, and lives in Portsmouth. [14]
British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer that was formed in 1977. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. It purchased Marconi Electronic Systems, the defence electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company, in 1999 to form BAE Systems.
Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), or GEC-Marconi as it was until 1998, was the defence arm of General Electric Company (GEC). It was demerged from GEC and bought by British Aerospace (BAe) on 30 November 1999 to form BAE Systems. GEC then renamed itself Marconi plc.
The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and defence electronics, communications, and engineering.
BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security and aerospace company, based in London, England. It is the biggest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe and the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. Its largest operations are in the United Kingdom and in the United States, where its BAE Systems Inc. subsidiary is one of the six largest suppliers to the US Department of Defense. Its next biggest markets are Saudi Arabia, then Australia; other major markets include Canada, Japan, India, Turkey, Qatar, Oman and Sweden. The company was formed on 30 November 1999 by the £7.7 billion purchase of and merger with Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), the defence electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company plc (GEC), by British Aerospace, an aircraft, munitions and naval systems manufacturer.
George Simpson, Baron Simpson of Dunkeld is a British businessman and former Labour - and later unaffiliated - member of the House of Lords. In the late 1980s and early 1990s Simpson gained a reputation for turning around struggling companies. However, as CEO of Marconi plc he presided over one of the largest collapses in British corporate history.
Al Yamamah is the name of a series of record arms sales by the United Kingdom to Saudi Arabia, paid for by the delivery of up to 600,000 barrels (95,000 m3) of crude oil per day to the British government. The prime contractor has been BAE Systems and its predecessor British Aerospace. The first sales occurred in September 1985 and the most recent contract for 72 Eurofighter Typhoon multirole fighters was signed in August 2006.
Leonardo S.p.A., formerly Leonardo-Finmeccanica and originally Finmeccanica, is an Italian multinational company specialising in aerospace, defence and security. Headquartered in Rome, Italy, the company has 180 sites worldwide. It is the 12th largest defence contractor in the world based on 2020 revenues. The company is partially owned by the Italian government, which holds 30.2% of the company's shares and is its largest shareholder.
Marconi Communications, the former telecommunications arm of Britain's General Electric Company plc (GEC), was founded in August 1998 through the amalgamation of GEC Plessey Telecommunications (GPT) with other GEC subsidiaries: Marconi SpA, GEC Hong Kong, and ATC South Africa.
Michael John Turner CBE is the former chief executive officer (CEO) of the aerospace and defence company BAE Systems, and current chairman of Babcock International and prior to the hostile takeover by Melrose was chairman of GKN plc.
Tracor was a major North American defense electronics contractor which was acquired by Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), a subsidiary of General Electric Company plc, in 1998. Following the purchase of MES by British Aerospace in November 1999 to form BAE Systems, Tracor became BAE Systems Integrated Defense Solutions. Following a 2005 reorganisation, the company became BAE Systems Sensor Integration, part of Electronics and Integrated Solutions.
BAE Systems Platforms & Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of BAE Systems Inc. and is a large provider of tracked and wheeled armored combat vehicles, naval guns, naval ship repair and modernization, artillery and missile launching systems, advanced precision strike munitions and ordnance, and other technologies for U.S. and international customers.
Sir Richard Harry Evans, is a British businessperson who is chairman of the Kazakh state holding company Samruk-Kazyna. He is formerly chairman of the British arms manufacturer BAE Systems.
John Pix Weston CBE FREng is a British businessman.
Christopher Vincent Geoghegan is a former board member of BAE Systems (2002–07) and president of the Society of British Aircraft Constructors.
Andy Hornby is an English businessman, currently chief executive of The Restaurant Group, a British chain of restaurants and public houses.
Ramani Ayer is an Indian-American business executive, and the CEO and chairman of The Hartford from 1997 to 2009.
Jim McDowell is a lawyer and defence sector businessman based in South Australia. He is a former CEO of BAE Systems Australia and BAE Systems Saudi Arabia. He was the Chief Executive of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet of the Government of South Australia from 2018, before moving to become CEO of Nova Systems, a global engineering services and technology solutions company, in November 2020. In May 2023, he was appointed Deputy Secretary Naval Building and Sustainment at the Australian Department of Defence.
Ian Ward Griffiths is a British businessman. He is a non-executive director of BBC Commercial and a Senior Adviser to Bain Capital.
Today's Airbus SE is the product of international consolidation in the European aerospace industry tracing way before the formation of the Airbus Industrie GIE consortium in 1970. In 2000, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) NV was established through the merger of Aerospatiale of France and DASA from Germany, and that subsequently bought Construcciones Aeronauticas from Spain. In addition to opther subsidiaries pertaining to security and space activities, EADS owned 100% of the pre-existing Eurocopter SA, established in 1992, as well as 80% of Airbus Industrie GIE. In 2001, Airbus Industrie GIE was reorganised as Airbus SAS, a simplified joint-stock company. In 2006, EADS acquired the remaining 20% shares of Airbus Industrie GIE from BAE Systems. EADS NV was renamed Airbus Group NV and SE in 2014, and 2015, respectively. Due to the commercial aircraft division's prominence within Airbus SE with it representing the largest part of the corporation's activities, Airbus S.A.S was published to be merged into the parent company in January 2017, but it was never done. Airbus SE remains therefore as the holding company for the commercial aircraft subsidiary Airbus SAS, while also being the parent company of the other two divisions Airbus Defence and Space and Airbus Helicopters. The company was given its present name in April 2018.