Nicholas D. Chabraja (pronounced cha-brah-ya) (born November 6, 1942, in Gary, Indiana) is a Serbian - American lawyer and former

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

General Dynamics Corporation General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales and fifth largest in the Unit ...

Career

In 1967 he got a law degree from the

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

. He was then employed by the

Jenner & Block Jenner & Block is an American law firm with offices in Century City, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. The firm is active in corporate litigation, business transactions, the public sector, and oth ...

law firm in which he stayed for almost thirty years, from 1968 to 1997. In this first and longest period of his career, he also served as a Special Counsel for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. He also held counseling positions for General Dynamics, being a Senior Vice President and Counsel from 1993 to 1994, and a Vice-Chairman from 1996 to 1997. In 1997 he was appointed a Chief Executive Officer of General Dynamics, a position which he held for twelve years, stepping down from his office on June 30, 2009. This makes Nicholas Chabraja the longest-serving Chief Executive Officer of the top five defense contractors, the others being Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, and Raytheon. Under his management, General Dynamics grew rapidly, mainly through acquisitions: from $4 billion in sales and 29,000 employees to $29.3 billion in sales and 92,900 employees in 2008. In 2008, Nicholas D. Chabraja earned a total compensation of $17,962,579, which included a base salary of $1,375,000, a cash bonus of $4,500,000, stocks granted worth $3,756,556, options granted worth $7,926,420, and other compensation worth $404,603. In 2009, he was included in the list of the 24 "TopGun CEOs" in the US, published by Brendan Wood International, an advisory agency.Brendan Wood International Announces 24 TopGun CEOs in the US
, Reuters.com He is also a member of the

Lambda Chi Alpha Lambda Chi Alpha (), commonly referred to as Lambda Chi, is a fraternities and sororities, collegiate fraternity in North America. With over 300,000 initiates as of 2024, it is the third-largest social fraternity in the world by number of initia ...

fraternity.

References

External links

General Dynamics

Highest paid defense contractor CEOs
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chabraja, Nicholas Living people General Dynamics 1942 births American chief executives of manufacturing companies American people of Serbian descent American technology chief executives People from Gary, Indiana Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni People associated with Jenner & Block