Aerojet chief wins out over former board chairman, selects new board members

WASHINGTON — Aerojet Rocketdyne’s chief executive, Eileen Drake, has won control of the embattled company after several months of turmoil.

The contractor’s shareholders on June 30 elected an independent slate of candidates to serve as directors on its new board, Aerojet said in a Wednesday release issued after the results were certified. The group includes Drake, who will continue as Aerojet’s chief executive.

Warren Lichtenstein, who as the company’s executive chairman sought to oust Drake from her role, has left the board. In May, the contractor formally reprimanded him for his behind-the-scenes effort to replace her.

The new board consists of several well-known former government and industry leaders, including former Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James, former NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, former Collins Aerospace executive Gail Baker, and former Federal Aviation Administration chief and Rolls-Royce executive Marion Blakey.

They will join Kevin Chilton, Thomas Corcoran and Lance Lord — incumbent directors who will remain on the board along with Drake.

“We are extremely grateful for the engagement and support of our shareholders throughout the process that culminated in the election of our new board,” Drake said in Aerojet’s release. “Each of our new directors is an accomplished business leader with relevant experience and a history of creating substantial shareholder value.”

According to Aerojet’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings posted Wednesday, stockholders’ vote for the new board was not close. Drake received nearly 55.3 million votes, about 83% of the 66.3 million possible votes, and the other elected directors each received almost 50 million votes. Lichtenstein received 15.3 million votes.

With the apparent end of the turmoil plaguing Aerojet’s boardroom, the company can now turn its focus toward charting a new direction following its failed acquisition by Lockheed Martin .

Lockheed first announced its desire to buy Aerojet, a key supplier of solid rocket motors, for $4.4 billion in December 2020. Bringing Aerojet’s portfolio in house would have given Lockheed a considerably stronger hand in the space and hypersonic fields.

But some lawmakers, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., were concerned the acquisition could hurt competition in the defense industry. The Federal Trade Commission in January announced it would sue to block the deal over antitrust concerns, and Lockheed announced an end to the planned transaction one month later.

As the deal stagnated last year, conflict between Drake and Lichtenstein grew. In a May 2021 memo to Aerojet’s then-general counsel, Drake objected to Lichtenstein’s conduct and accused him of defaming her and trying to oust her for his own benefit.

Drake called Lichtenstein a “liability” and said he was having improper conversations with outside parties about the Lockheed deal and the company’s leadership.

Aerojet launched an investigation. Lichtenstein denied the allegations and said he had not provided confidential information to outside parties or defamed any Aerojet officials. He said Aerojet must be prepared for the possibility the Lockheed deal might not come to pass, and that he was frustrated by management’s lack of responsiveness and transparency.

After last month’s announcement that Aerojet had reprimanded Lichtenstein, Drake and Lichtenstein issued dueling releases in which they swiped at one another. Drake suggested the reprimand showed Lichtenstein was not fit to continue as executive chairman, while Lichtenstein accused Drake of acting selfishly and wasting company resources by pushing the investigation.

A committee backing the election of Drake’s preferred slate issued a release June 30 claiming victory, based on preliminary vote results. In that release, Drake sought to sound a conciliatory note, saying the new board will closely consider the perspectives and feedback shared by the company’s shareholders during the leadership struggle.

She offered thanks to Lichtenstein, also the executive chairman of Steel Partners Holdings, in the June 30 release. Steel Partners has been an Aerojet investor since 2000 and now holds a roughly 5% stake in the company. Lichtenstein was initially added to Aerojet’s board after a 2008 shareholder agreement between the company and Steel Partners.

“We acknowledge that a difficult and costly fight has brought us to this point, but the time has come today to plot a positive path and work with all our shareholders, including Steel Partners, to maximize value,” Drake said in the June 30 release. “In that spirit, we would like to thank Warren Lichtenstein and the other departing board members for their service to our company.”

James, now a board member, told Defense News she’s honored to join Aerojet’s slate of directors.

Aerojet Rocketdyne “is involved with many programs of national security importance like space propulsion, hypersonics and the [Ground Based Strategic Deterrent next-generation nuclear missile, also known as the Sentinel],” James said in a text. “I’m looking forward to being part of this extraordinary team and helping to advance the company’s mission.”

Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.

华盛顿——经过数月的动荡，Aerojet Rocketdyne 的首席执行官艾琳·德雷克 (Eileen Drake) 赢得了对这家陷入困境的公司的控制权。

Aerojet公司在周三发布的一份声明中表示，该公司股东于6月30日选举产生了一批独立候选人，组成新的董事会。该声明是在选举结果获得认证后发布的。德雷克（Drake）将继续担任Aerojet的首席执行官。

曾担任公司执行董事长并试图将德雷克赶下台的沃伦·利希滕斯坦已离开董事会。今年5月，承包商正式谴责了他幕后试图撤换德雷克的行为。

新董事会由几位知名的前政府和行业领导人组成，包括前空军部长黛博拉·李·詹姆斯、前美国国家航空航天局局长查尔斯·博尔登、前柯林斯航空航天公司高管盖尔·贝克以及前联邦航空管理局局长兼劳斯莱斯公司高管玛丽昂·布莱基。

他们将与 Kevin Chilton、Thomas Corcoran 和 Lance Lord 一起加入董事会——这三位现任董事将与 Drake 一起继续留在董事会。

“我们非常感谢股东们在整个过程中给予的积极参与和支持，最终促成了新董事会的选举，”德雷克在Aerojet发布的新闻稿中表示。“我们每位新任董事都是经验丰富的杰出商业领袖，拥有相关的从业经验和创造巨大股东价值的卓越业绩。”

根据Aerojet公司周三向美国证券交易委员会提交的文件，股东对新董事会的投票结果悬殊。德雷克获得了近5530万张选票，约占6630万张总票数的83%，其他当选董事每人也获得了近5000万张选票。利希滕斯坦获得了1530万张选票。

随着困扰 Aerojet 董事会的动荡局面似乎结束，该公司现在可以将注意力转向在洛克希德·马丁收购失败后制定新的发展方向。

洛克希德公司于 2020 年 12 月首次宣布有意以 44 亿美元收购固体火箭发动机的主要供应商 Aerojet 公司。将 Aerojet 的产品组合纳入旗下，将使洛克希德公司在航天和高超音速领域拥有更强大的实力。

但一些议员，例如马萨诸塞州民主党参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦，担心此次收购会损害国防工业的竞争。联邦贸易委员会于1月份宣布将提起反垄断诉讼，阻止这笔交易。一个月后，洛克希德公司宣布终止这项交易计划。

去年，由于交易进展停滞不前，德雷克和利希滕斯坦之间的冲突日益加剧。在2021年5月写给Aerojet时任总法律顾问的一份备忘录中，德雷克对利希滕斯坦的行为提出异议，并指责他诽谤她，试图为了自己的利益将她赶下台。

德雷克称利希滕斯坦是“累赘”，并表示他与外部人士就洛克希德交易和公司领导层进行了不正当的谈话。

Aerojet公司已展开调查。利希滕斯坦否认了这些指控，并表示他没有向外部人士提供任何机密信息，也没有诽谤任何Aerojet公司的官员。他表示，Aerojet公司必须做好与洛克希德公司交易可能无法达成的准备，并对管理层缺乏回应和透明度感到失望。

上个月Aerojet宣布对利希滕斯坦进行训诫后，德雷克和利希滕斯坦分别发表了针锋相对的声明，互相攻击。德雷克暗示，此次训诫表明利希滕斯坦不适合继续担任执行董事长，而利希滕斯坦则指责德雷克行事自私，并因强行推进调查而浪费公司资源。

支持德雷克属意候选人名单的委员会于6月30日发布声明，宣布根据初步投票结果取得胜利。在声明中，德雷克试图表达和解的立场，称新董事会将认真考虑公司股东在领导权争夺期间提出的意见和反馈。

她在6月30日发布的新闻稿中对利希滕斯坦表示感谢，利希滕斯坦同时也是Steel Partners Holdings的执行主席。Steel Partners自2000年以来一直是Aerojet的投资者，目前持有该公司约5%的股份。利希滕斯坦最初是在Aerojet与Steel Partners于2008年达成股东协议后加入Aerojet董事会的。

德雷克在6月30日发布的新闻稿中表示：“我们承认，这场艰难而代价高昂的斗争将我们带到了今天，但现在是时候制定一条积极的道路，并与包括钢铁伙伴公司在内的所有股东合作，实现价值最大化了。本着这种精神，我们要感谢沃伦·利希滕斯坦和其他即将离任的董事会成员为公司做出的贡献。”

现任董事会成员詹姆斯告诉《防务新闻》，她很荣幸能加入 Aerojet 的董事团队。

詹姆斯在短信中表示：“Aerojet Rocketdyne公司参与了许多对国家安全至关重要的项目，例如太空推进、高超音速技术以及下一代陆基战略威慑核导弹（又称‘哨兵’导弹）。我期待加入这支卓越的团队，并为推进公司的使命贡献力量。”

斯蒂芬·洛西是《防务新闻》的空战记者。他此前曾在《空军时报》报道领导层和人事问题，并在Military.com网站报道五角大楼、特种作战和空战。他曾前往中东报道美国空军的行动。