Kampani joins Rocket Lab
It’s no secret that Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB) plans more acquisitions as it pursues its components strategy, but if any confirmation were needed, yesterday’s hiring of Arjun Kampani as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary was proof. Kampani, a veteran aerospace mergers and acquisitions (M&A) attorney, comes from manufacturer Aerojet Rocketdyne (NYSE: AJRD) and previously worked at General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), where he completed more than 30 acquisitions, according to the release.
“[Kampani’s] extensive aerospace experience and deep legal and management expertise will be foundational to our fast-paced growth as we scale Electron’s launch cadence, aggressively develop Neutron, and delve deeper into space systems and satellite manufacture to support ambitious space missions,” Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck said in a statement.
Wall takes on second CEO role
Andre Wall, CEO of Switzerland-based aerospace manufacturer RUAG, last week also became CEO of Beyond Gravity (formerly RUAG Space).
Latimer named director at Virgin Galactic
Space tourism company Virgin Galactic (NYSE: SPCE) on March 30 appointed retired Air Force Lt. Col. Kelly Latimer to director of flight test. She previously was a test pilot with Boeing (NYSE: BA), where she tested the KC-46 tanker that is based on the 767, and has been a test pilot for Virgin Galactic since 2015.
Killalea joins Satellogic board
Also on March 30, Satellogic (NASDAQ: SATL), which completed its SPAC transaction in January, appointed Tom Killalea to its board of directors. A former executive at Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Killalea is chairman of the board of next-generation database developer MongoDB (NASDAQ: MDB) and serves on the boards of Capital One (NYSE: COF) and of content delivery network Akamai (NASDAQ: AKAM).
Heddon appointed Comtech COO
Comtech Telecommunications (NASDAQ: CMTL) appointed Maria Hedden as chief operating officer on March 30. She previously worked at L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) and most recently at Leidos, formerly Science Applications International Corporation. At BAE Systems, where she worked for 21 years, she led a global “multimillion-dollar efficiency improvement to reduce overhead costs and establish manufacturing centers of excellence across multiple product lines,” according to her LinkedIn profile.
Terrestrial connectivity
Warner and Srivatsan take new roles at SentinelOne
SentinelOne (NYSE: S), the cybersecurity company whose IPO last year raised $1.2 billion at a valuation of $8.9 billion, yesterday promoted Nicholas Warner from COO to president of security. Replacing him as COO is Vats Srivatsan, whose career began at McKinsey & Co. and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG). Srivatsan was most recently president and chief operating officer of zero-trust security provider ColorTokens and prior to that was chief strategy officer at cybersecurity multinational Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW).
Nel steps in at American Tower Europe
American Tower (NYSE: AMT) on Monday appointed Pieter Nel as CEO of its European operations. The company’s next asset purchase could be a European tower portfolio, CEO Tom Bartlett said in January. Nel replaces Julian Plumstead, who was promoted to a newly created role as senior vice president for M&A for Europe, Africa and Latin America.
“I am committed to this mission and convinced that, together with the entire team, we will be able to further develop the great potential European market presents,” Nel said in a statement.
Gray to manage military biz at Boingo
Also on Monday, diverse wireless connectivity provider Boingo Wireless hired Col. Rebecca Gray to manage its military services business, succeeding Bruce Crair, who is retiring. Gray is currently the Vice Wing Commander, 111th Attack Wing at Biddle Air National Guard based in Horsham, Pa. Gray also served as an executive at Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) and at energy utility Southern Company (NYSE: SO). Boingo Wireless was acquired last year for $845 million by Digital Colony, part of what is now DigitalBridge (NYSE: DBRG).
DigitalBridge promotes Jenkins to CIO
DigitalBridge, which plans to grow assets under management to $100 billion, on March 31 promoted Ben Jenkins, chief investment officer at DigitalBridge Investment Management, to president and chief investment officer of DigitalBridge. He formerly worked at Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Blackstone (NYSE: BX) and was founder and CEO of Dering Capital, which partners with sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, foundations and family offices, according to its website.
“As we complete our transformation and focus 100% on digital, we will increasingly benefit from [Jenkins’] decades of expertise, proven track record of success and extensive knowledge of our company and capabilities,” DigitalBridge CEO Marc Ganzi said in a statement.