L3Harris replaces its CEO with immediate effect — a mutually agreed departure following an independent investigation, with no severance — SEC 8-K (August 2026)

1The weight of the word immediate

A chief executive transition at a listed company usually arrives with a named successor and a handover period. The 8-K L3Harris filed on August 17, 2026 records both the departure and the appointment taking effect immediately.

It states that the independent members of the board, assisted by independent counsel, conducted an investigation, and that the board determined the departing executive had engaged in conduct inconsistent with the values set out in the company Code of Conduct. The specific conduct is not disclosed.

2What the filing separates out explicitly

1. 1InvestigationConducted by the independent members of the board with independent counsel
2. 2Board determinationConduct found inconsistent with the Code of Conduct
3. 3Mutually agreed departureEmployment ended immediately by mutual agreement; resignation from the board and all subsidiary boards
4. 4Scope statedDid not involve and has no impact on financial reporting, controls, customer relationships or operational performance
5. 5TermsPreviously vested stock options retained and exercisable; no severance payments, benefits or accelerated vesting of unvested equity

The filing states that the board resignation was not because of a disagreement with the company on any matter relating to its operations, policies or practices. That is not boilerplate: Regulation S-K requires disclosure of whether a departing director left over a disagreement. The explicit carve-out of accounting and internal control works the same way, ruling out first the areas investors worry about most.

The absence of severance is likewise written in as a fact that characterizes the departure.

3The successor ran the two largest segments

Sam Mehta joined in 2023 and has served as President of the Space & Mission Systems and Communications & Spectrum Dominance segments, which per the 8-K together account for roughly 80% of total revenue. Before joining he was President of Advanced Structures at Collins Aerospace, an RTX business unit, from 2018 to 2022.

His compensation is a base salary of $1,250,000, a target annual cash bonus of 200% of base salary and a long-term incentive target of $13,250,000. The same 8-K reports the appointment of Lewis Hay III as Independent Chairman of the Board and new presidents for both segments.

4A filing that uses four items at once

This 8-K is reported under Item 5.02 (departure and appointment of officers), Item 7.01 (Regulation FD disclosure), Item 8.01 (other events) and Item 9.01 (financial statements and exhibits). Of the 644 SEC filings this site holds as of 2026-09-02, 442 are 8-K family filings, and Item 5.02 appears in 116 of them — second only to results at 162.

Most of those, however, are ordinary appointments and retirements; departures following an investigation are a narrow subset. That four items were needed at once itself shows how much had to be delivered in a single announcement.