Telecommunications: DAVID WAJSGRAS

Wajsgras became CEO of Intelsat in April following Stephen Spengler’s retirement. Shortly before that, the company, which operates 50-plus satellites and has more than 1,800 employees, announced its emergence from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy and financial restructuring.

A graduate of the University of Maryland, Wajsgras earned his MBA at American University. He was executive vice president and chief financial officer at Lear Corp. before starting with Raytheon Co. in 2006. He spent 14 years there, becoming president of the company’s $7.5 billion Intelligence, Information and Services business. Before joining Intelsat, he was a partner at Pine Island Capital Partners.

Intelsat runs an integrated satellite and terrestrial network, operating in more than 200 countries. In April, Air Alaska tapped Intelsat to provide inflight connectivity for 105 Boeing 737 Max aircraft, and Air Canada contracted with Intelsat in June to provide communications to up to 45 passenger jets. Also in June, Intelsat announced that its FlexMaritime service had surpassed 10,000 vessels. It has added more than 2,000 terminals to key maritime markets since November 2021.