Raytheon’s Chairman, CEO Says He’ll Retire

Raytheon Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Daniel P. Burnham announced his resignation Wednesday and said the company’s president, William H. Swanson, would move into the top jobs in July.

Swanson, a 31-year Raytheon veteran and president since July 2002, has overseen the company’s sprawling defense electronics operations in El Segundo.

Burnham’s surprise announcement, made during the annual meeting at Raytheon headquarters in Lexington, Mass., prompted speculation about the reason for his departure after six years with the company.

Raytheon insiders said they were surprised, believing Swanson, 54, wouldn’t replace Burnham, 56, for a year or two.

But Burnham said the time was right to hand over the reins. Raytheon executives and directors said it was the CEO’s decision alone to leave the company effective July 1.

“There was no one more shocked than I when he said he wanted to retire early,” said Warren B. Rudman, a Raytheon director.

“After a tough five years, he turned the company around. We tried to talk him out of it.”

Burnham joined Raytheon in 1998 and became CEO the next year. He saw Raytheon through one of the most tumultuous periods in the company’s 80-year history.

When he took over, Raytheon was in disarray, having accumulated more than $10 billion in debt.

Burnham sold many of Raytheon’s money-losing ventures, including a construction firm, and focused on beefing up its defense business.

The nation’s fourth-largest defense contractor, the company makes the Tomahawk missile that U.S. forces used in the Iraq war. It also manufactures radar, corporate jets and many of the high-tech electronics and sensors that go into them.

Raytheon has 9,000 employees in Southern California.

On Tuesday, Raytheon reported first-quarter earnings of $95 million compared with a loss of $583 million in the year-ago period.

Raytheon’s stock has fallen about 60% since its high in 1999, although there has been a recent increase in defense spending. Raytheon’s stock closed Wednesday at $30.30, up 55 cents, on the New York Stock Exchange.

In an interview Wednesday, Burnham said he had been seriously considering stepping down since last fall, mainly because he felt he had accomplished the goals he set for himself.

“I really feel that the challenges are known and in hand now,” Burnham said. “Defense has been performing on all eight cylinders. And I think we have proven to everyone and ourselves that we have transformed the company.”

In July, he said he expects to retire to a home in Santa Barbara that he bought from actress Whoopi Goldberg.