Walid Abukhaled has retired as CEO of the state-owned defense company Saudi Arabian Military Industries.
Abukhaled took over as chief of the Saudi defense business in 2020, succeeding Andrew Schwer, a German national and former executive at Rheinmetall. Before leading SAMI, Abukhaled was CEO of the Middle East unit of Northrop Grumman.
Under his leadership, SAMI underwent significant expansion and growth, acquiring several businesses, including Advanced Electronics Company and Alsalam Aerospace. He also led efforts to seal joint ventures and contracts, the most recent being a $3 billion deal with Turkish Baykar to produce Akinci drones in Saudi Arabia.
In an interview with Breaking Defense at WDS 2024 in February, Abukhaled expressed his joy about SAMI becoming one of the top defense companies in the world. “After four years of starting operation we became number 98. This last year we climbed 19 position; Now we are number 79 globally,” he said.
In a social media post, SAMI’s board of directors announced the appointment of Omar AlMadhi, incumbent vice chairman of the board and chairman of the board executive committee, as interim CEO.