October 27, 2025
Beneath Townes-Whitley’s management since 2023, SAIC posted $7.48 billion in 2024 income, rating because the Twentieth-largest public firm based mostly within the Better Washington, D.C. space.
There’s a important shift inside the Fortune 500 as Science Functions Worldwide Corp. (SAIC) introduced that CEO Toni Townes-Whitley will step down, efficient instantly after two years of management, Washington Enterprise Journal stories.
In a regulatory submitting, SAIC mentioned Townes-Whitley separated from the corporate “with out trigger,” making her eligible for unspecified advantages and severance. The previous CEO launched all claims and has a two-year noncompete. The announcement got here after the markets closed Oct. 23. Beneath Townes-Whitley’s management since 2023, SAIC posted $7.48 billion in 2024 income, rating because the Twentieth-largest public firm based mostly within the Better Washington, D.C. space. The know-how firm noticed income development of 0.47% between 2023 and 2024 and employs roughly 24,000 folks, making SAIC the Twenty third-largest employer within the space.
Because the board has tapped former Leidos CFO Jim Reagan as interim CEO till a everlasting chief is known as, Townes-Whitley says she has the “utmost confidence” that he’ll take the corporate to new heights. “I’ve collaborated intently with Jim throughout my time right here, and I’ve the utmost confidence in his and the group’s potential to capitalize on and totally understand the Firm’s development prospects,” she mentioned in an announcement.
“With its proficient staff, SAIC is in good palms till a everlasting CEO is appointed.”
Whereas SAIC board chair Donna Morea launched an announcement thanking Townes-Whitley for her management, her departure is notable, as she is certainly one of two girls of coloration to lose their positions in only one week.
In accordance with Fortune, each Townes-Whitley and Priscilla Almodovar, former CEO of Fannie Mae, have stepped down in October 2025. With each corporations being headquartered within the D.C. and northern Virginia space, there are ties to federal companies. Fannie Mae, a government-sponsored entity (GSE), has been dealing with hurdles with the Trump administration—first with the President contemplating an IPO—after which with the Federal Housing Finance Company eradicating eight members of its board and putting in director Invoice Pulte as chair.
SAIC has ties to the manager department of the federal government, with $7.5 billion in income from serving as a contractor to the Division of Protection and different branches, offering IT and engineering providers to the navy, NASA, and extra.
Townes-Whitley was certainly one of solely two Fortune 500 corporations with Black girls serving as CEOs, alongside TIAA’s Thasunda Brown Duckett. Almodovar was the one Latina to serve on the similar degree. Each girls made the 2025 Most Highly effective Ladies listing, with Townes-Whitley listed as 95, however along with her departure, the group is left with solely 52 feminine chief executives.
The company world has seen the consequences of President Donald Trump’s government order that rolled again range, fairness, and inclusion (DEI). A Bloomberg report highlighted that white males made up a majority of recent administrators at 500 corporations for the primary time since 2017.
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