Living Legends: GEORGE J. PEDERSEN
CO-FOUNDER, MANTECH INTERNATIONAL CORP., HERNDON
Published
In February, Reuters ran an exclusive story: ManTech International Corp. co-founder Pedersen was considering selling the U.S. defense contracting firm that the octogenarian built more than 50 years earlier.
It didn’t take long for suitors to come a-calling. In May, ManTech announced that Washington, D.C.-based private equity firm The Carlyle Group had agreed to acquire the company for $4.2 billion.
Pedersen co-founded ManTech back in 1968 with a single contract from the U.S. Navy to supply modeling and simulation services. ManTech, which has expertise in cybersecurity, surveillance and reconnaissance, and supply chain management and logistics, went public in 2002. Last year, ManTech reported total revenue of $2.55 billion. The company has about 9,800 employees.
Pedersen stepped down as CEO of ManTech in 2018, the same year he was inducted into the GovCon Hall of Fame. He stayed on the company’s board until this February, retiring as chairman emeritus. Listed on Forbes’ World’s Billionaires list, Pedersen once said his only real hobby was his company.
