Much like Northrop Grumman Corp.'s stealthy B-2 bomber, the company's chief executive has flown under the radar for most of his career overseeing the development of many of the nation's top-secret weapons.
Unassuming and devoid of the cigar-chomping flamboyance that distinguished aerospace executives in the past, Ronald Sugar -- a former whiz kid from South Los Angeles -- often shuns the limelight.
Yet few in aerospace are as influential to the nation's defense and security.
"If you met him on the street, you'd never know he runs one of the world's largest defense companies," said Paul H. Nisbet, who has been a Wall Street analyst following the aerospace industry since the 1970s. "He is not a silver-spoon executive."
Sugar is in charge of a company with 120,000 employees scattered across 50 states and 25 countries developing and building weapons and technologies that touch virtually every aspect of U.S. military and intelligence operations. It is one of Southern California's largest private employers, with 27,000 workers in the region.
Its satellites keep an eye on North Korean missile silos as its robotic planes hover over Afghanistan looking for Taliban operatives. Its massive aircraft carriers project America's military power overseas as its nuclear-powered submarines covertly roam under the sea. In super-secret hideaways, its technologies eavesdrop on suspected terrorists and its computer networks help run federal agencies.
In the industry's heyday, such a company would have been headed by larger-than-life figures such as billionaire Howard Hughes or firebrands such as Litton Industries' Charles "Tex" Thornton.
Northrop Grumman's Ronald Sugar: Quietly in command
DEFENSE
The former whiz kid from South Los Angeles often shuns the limelight. 'If you met him on the street, you'd never know he runs one of the world's largest defense companies,' a Wall Street analyst says.
But these days Sugar -- who looks like a banker, with balding head and eyeglasses -- is the epitome of the modern-day aerospace executive, analysts said.
"He is subdued and thoughtful rather than outspoken and colorful," said Loren Thompson, a longtime defense policy analyst for the Lexington Institute. "The industry has had its fill of cowboys. What it needs now are calm, analytical people, and Sugar fits that mode."
Northrop, like other defense firms, is facing significant turbulence after nearly a decade of growth. Wall Street is mixed on whether Sugar can steer the company through what is expected to be a protracted slowdown in Pentagon spending. Analysts said his legacy might hinge on how well Northrop adjusts to new realities of shrinking defense budgets.
