Leanne Caret

Leanne Caret
Caret in 2018
Leanne Caret
Born	18 11, 1966
Nationality	American
Occupation	Business executive
Title	Former executive vice president, Boeing
Known for	Former president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security; former executive vice president of Boeing
Education	Kansas State University (BS) Wichita State University (MBA)
Spouse(s)	Steve Caret
Awards	Fortune Most Powerful Women list

Leanne G. Caret (born November 18, 1966) is an American business executive who served as president and chief executive officer of Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) and as executive vice president of The Boeing Company from 2016 until her retirement in 2022. Over the course of a career spanning more than three decades at Boeing, Caret rose through a series of progressively senior leadership positions in finance, operations, and general management within the company's defense and commercial divisions. She was recognized by Fortune magazine as one of the Most Powerful Women in business. Following her retirement from Boeing, Caret has continued to serve in prominent roles in corporate governance and higher education, including board positions at Raytheon Technologies, Deere & Company, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Early Life

Leanne Caret was born on November 18, 1966. Details about her early childhood and family background prior to her education remain limited in publicly available sources. She grew up during a period of significant expansion in the American aerospace and defense industry, and her career trajectory would ultimately lead her to the highest levels of one of the sector's most prominent companies. Caret was recognized early in her professional life as a rising talent in the Wichita, Kansas, business community, where she was named to the Wichita Business Journal's "40 Under 40" list, a distinction that highlighted young professionals who had demonstrated exceptional achievement and leadership potential in the region.

Education

Caret earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Kansas State University. She later obtained a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Wichita State University. Both institutions are public universities in the state of Kansas, and Caret's educational background in business provided the foundation for her subsequent career in aerospace manufacturing and defense contracting. Her advanced degree in business administration proved instrumental as she advanced through increasingly complex financial and operational roles at Boeing and its predecessor entities.

Career

Early Career at Boeing (1988–2015)

Leanne Caret began her career at Boeing in 1988, a tenure that would ultimately span 34 years. Her early years at the company were spent in the Wichita, Kansas, area, where Boeing maintained significant manufacturing operations. During this period, she built expertise in finance and program management, rising through a succession of leadership positions within the company's defense-related business units.

Over the course of nearly three decades, Caret held roles of increasing responsibility across multiple divisions of Boeing. Her career path included leadership positions in both the defense and commercial sides of the business, giving her broad operational experience that distinguished her among the company's senior leadership cadre. The Wichita Business Journal recognized her achievements early in her career by naming her to its "40 Under 40" list, signaling her emergence as a notable figure in the Kansas business community.

Caret's steady ascent through Boeing's organizational hierarchy reflected the company's tradition of developing leaders internally. By the mid-2010s, she had accumulated sufficient experience and credibility within the organization to be considered for one of its most significant leadership positions.

President and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security (2016–2022)

In 2016, Caret was appointed president and chief executive officer of Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS), one of the three major business units of The Boeing Company, and simultaneously became an executive vice president of the parent corporation. The BDS division, headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, was one of the largest defense contractors in the United States, responsible for military aircraft, satellites, weapons systems, and related technologies and services.

As head of BDS, Caret oversaw a vast portfolio of defense and space programs serving the United States Department of Defense, NASA, and international military customers. The division's product lines included fighter aircraft, rotorcraft, unmanned systems, satellite systems, and various defense electronics and network systems. Leading this division placed Caret among the most senior women in the American defense industry and among the highest-ranking executives in the broader aerospace sector.

Caret's tenure at the helm of BDS was marked by both significant achievements and considerable challenges. Defense One characterized her six years leading the division as "turbulent," a reflection of the operational and programmatic difficulties that affected several major BDS programs during this period. The defense and space unit faced cost overruns and technical challenges on a number of fixed-price development programs, issues that drew scrutiny from both government customers and financial analysts.

Despite these challenges, Caret maintained her position as one of the most prominent executives in the defense industry throughout her tenure. Her role required managing relationships with senior military and government officials, overseeing tens of thousands of employees, and navigating the complex regulatory and procurement environment that defines the American defense industrial base.

Fortune magazine recognized Caret's stature in the business world by including her on its annual Most Powerful Women list, where she was ranked 23rd. This recognition placed her alongside some of the most influential female executives in American business and underscored the significance of her role within both Boeing and the broader defense industry.

Retirement from Boeing (2022)

On March 28, 2022, Boeing announced that Caret would retire from the company, effective later that year, after a career spanning more than three decades. Her successor as president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security was Ted Colbert, who had previously led Boeing Global Services. Colbert's appointment was noted as historically significant; Defense One reported that he became the only Black chief executive among the top 50 U.S. defense firms.

Caret's departure from Boeing marked the end of a 34-year career at the company, during which she had risen from an entry-level position to the executive vice president level. Her retirement was part of a broader leadership transition at Boeing during a period when the company was addressing multiple operational and reputational challenges across its business units.

Post-Boeing Consulting

Following her formal retirement from Boeing, Caret maintained a connection with the company through a consulting arrangement. In December 2022, it was reported that Caret would provide recruitment-related consulting support to Boeing through a consulting firm, assisting the company with talent acquisition efforts. This arrangement allowed Boeing to continue benefiting from Caret's extensive knowledge of the company and the defense industry while she transitioned into the next phase of her career.

Corporate Board Service

After leaving her operational role at Boeing, Caret took on several prominent corporate board positions that reflected her standing in the aerospace, defense, and manufacturing industries.

In November 2021, while still serving as an executive at Boeing, Caret was elected to the board of directors of Deere & Company (NYSE: DE), the multinational agricultural and industrial equipment manufacturer. The announcement described her as "a leading manufacturing executive," highlighting the transferability of her leadership experience to the broader manufacturing sector.

In January 2023, shortly after her retirement from Boeing, Caret was elected to the board of directors of Raytheon Technologies (NYSE: RTX), one of the world's largest aerospace and defense companies. The announcement described her as "an experienced aerospace and defense industry leader." Her appointment to the Raytheon Technologies board was notable given that the company was a major competitor to Boeing in numerous defense and aerospace markets, and it reflected the common practice in the defense industry of recruiting board members with deep sector expertise regardless of prior corporate affiliations.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Board of Trustees

In April 2024, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University announced that Caret had been appointed as the newest member of its Board of Trustees. The university described her as a "longtime CEO and Fortune 100 director" and noted that she brought decades of experience to the board. Caret was announced alongside Kenn Ricci, another figure in the aviation industry, as part of an effort by the university to strengthen its governance with leaders from the aviation and aerospace sectors.

Embry-Riddle is one of the foremost institutions of higher education specializing in aviation and aerospace, and Caret's appointment to its Board of Trustees reflected her extensive experience in the aerospace and defense industry and her continued engagement with the sector following her retirement from operational roles.

Personal Life

Leanne Caret is married to Steve Caret. Limited additional information about her personal life is available in publicly documented sources, consistent with her general approach of maintaining a relatively low public profile outside of her professional activities.

Caret has served on the board of governors of the United Service Organizations (USO), a nonprofit organization that provides programs and services to members of the United States military and their families. This board service reflected her long professional engagement with the defense community and the military through her leadership of Boeing's defense business unit.

Recognition

Caret received several notable recognitions during and after her career at Boeing. Fortune magazine included her on its annual Most Powerful Women list, ranking her 23rd, a placement that reflected her significant role as head of one of the largest defense businesses in the United States.

Earlier in her career, while based in Wichita, Kansas, Caret was recognized by the Wichita Business Journal as a member of its "40 Under 40" class, which highlighted young professionals who had demonstrated notable achievement in the region's business community.

Her post-retirement appointments to the boards of major corporations and institutions—including Raytheon Technologies, Deere & Company, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University—further attested to the regard in which she was held within the aerospace, defense, and manufacturing industries.

Legacy

Leanne Caret's 34-year career at Boeing, culminating in her leadership of one of the company's three principal business units, placed her among the most senior women to have led a major American defense enterprise. Her rise through the ranks of Boeing from an entry-level position in 1988 to executive vice president and head of Boeing Defense, Space & Security represented a notable career arc in an industry that has historically had limited representation of women in its uppermost leadership positions.

Her tenure as head of BDS coincided with a period of significant challenge for Boeing's defense and space business, and her leadership during this time was subject to both industry recognition and scrutiny. Following her retirement, her rapid appointment to multiple corporate boards and a university board of trustees demonstrated the breadth of her professional reputation and the value that major organizations placed on her industry expertise and leadership experience.

Caret's post-Boeing career, including her roles at Raytheon Technologies and Deere & Company, illustrated the increasing fluidity of executive talent across the defense and broader industrial sectors, as well as the growing demand for board members with deep operational experience in complex, regulated industries.