BAE Systems chief executive; heads the maker of every F-35 rear fuselage
BAE Systems chief executive · Person
Charles Woodburn has been chief executive of BAE Systems, Europe's largest arms maker, since 1 July 2017. Simply Wall St reports his total compensation for 2025 at £12.4M and a direct holding of 0.052% of BAE worth about £29.8M; in 2021 the board raised his salary to just over £1.1M and gave him a £2M share package to stop him leaving. The British arms industry, led by BAE, produces about 15% of every F-35, including Israel's fleet, according to Campaign Against Arms Trade, which confirmed that an Israeli F-35 carried out the 13 July 2024 strike on the al-Mawasi 'safe zone' in Gaza that killed 90 people and injured at least 300. The UN Commission of Inquiry concluded in September 2025 that Israel committed genocide in Gaza. Among BAE's owners, Vanguard alone held about 4.3% of its shares in June 2026. The 'safe zone' was not safe; the share package was.
● confirmed by a primary document · ○ reported
total yearly compensation is £12.40M, comprised of 10.3% salary and 89.7% bonuses, including company stock and options.
Owner-supplied primary link; our fetcher received only part of the report and could not see the single-figure table (owner reports £12,397k).
He joined BAE Systems in May 2016 as Chief Operating Officer and became Chief Executive on 1 July 2017.
No open stories name this person right now.