About

About William J. Weber

William J. Weber, or “Bill” as his friends call him, is a five-time CEO and mergers and acquisitions specialist. Based in Washington, DC, he has an extensive professional history spanning over thirty years.

Throughout his career, Bill has led teams and individuals in high-growth technology environments, helping solve some of the world’s most challenging technical problems.

As the former chief executive officer of Firefly Aerospace, he played a crucial role in spearheading the company’s end-to-end space transportation operations, providing a broad range of launch, landing, and orbiting solutions for customers conducting space-related businesses.

Bill Weber: The Early Years

Bill grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Washington University. He also attended the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, where he graduated from the Executive Program.

Bill was an airborne ranger with the rank of captain in the US Army. He was awarded the Bronze Star for combat operations during Operation Desert Storm.

Professional accomplishments

Bill’s CEO positions make up the bulk of his professional career. After all, he has been a CEO no less than five times from 2011 to 2024.

But he is also an accomplished company director and business manager, with an extensive background in mergers and acquisitions. At present, he has over a dozen successfully concluded transactions and four liquidity events to his name.

Over the years, Bill has played a major role in raising over $2.5 billion in capital across nine equity and debt-raising events in five companies.

Bill also has a stellar track record in mentorship, team building, and personnel development. Over 20 former members of his leadership team have achieved C-level positions in various firms in the defense, intelligence, and aerospace technology sectors.

Bill Weber, CEO: Career history

Bill’s professional career spans thirty years in various leadership and management roles. From 2011 to 2015, he served as the president, chief executive officer, and director of XLA, Inc. in Washington, DC. As the architect and leader of the executive management team, he played a significant part in shaping strategy, executing plans, and delivering operational objectives.

Bill also served as president, chief executive officer, and director of KeyW Corporation from 2015 to 2019. With a workforce of 2000+, the $500+ million publicly traded company is a key player in the cyber operations sector, providing cutting-edge data analytics and geospatial intelligence solutions for intelligence and defense customers and commercial enterprises in the United States.

Under Bill’s leadership, KeyW entered into a successful merger with Jacobs Engineering Group. As with his other positions, Bill proved to be a vital and inspirational leader in his C-level and director roles at KeyW.

With WJW Advisors, LLC, Bill served as a managing principal, a position he has held from 2019 to the present. As the director and advisor on multiple boards, Bill actively works on various merger and acquisition strategy engagements across multiple industries. With his guidance, WJW has managed to address the business and organizational challenges of modern clients.

From 2020 to 2022, Bill Weber held the chairman and CEO position at a company he founded called First Light Acquisition Group (FLAG). A special purpose acquisition firm, FLAG, completed a $230M public raise by September 2021 thanks to Bill’s capital raising expertise.

Among Bill’s most notable accomplishment at FLAG was the assembly of an extended team of operating partners, board directors, and advisor partners to invest in the company and support its market opportunity. Bill also steered the company to a successful deSPAC transaction in Q3 and Q4 of 2023.

Bill’s most recent role as CEO was with Firefly Aerospace in Austin, Texas, where he assumed the leadership role from 2022 to 2024. As CEO and Director, he spearheaded the company’s vision, ensuring the progress of all the company’s technical, operational, financial, and relational functions.

Firefly has been involved in several high-profile missions for the US Space Force, including the Victus Nox mission. This particular launch took place within 27 hours after Firefly received the order.

Personal details

For casual acquaintances of Bill Weber, “CEO” is the title he is most often associated with. But he is also a passionate advocate of armed forces personnel’s rights, owing to his extensive military experience.

Bill’s years as an airborne army ranger have given him a keen insight and compassion into the challenges faced by military personnel and veterans. He currently serves as vice chair of the board of directors of Americas Warrior Partnership. This non-profit organization uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to end veteran suicide as a measurable statistic.

Through the organization, Bill hopes to address the needs of fallen special operators or intelligence field officers and their families.

Bill’s close friends also know him as an avid sports fan. Although he doesn’t have any particular favorites, he will happily watch any sport consisting of two competing teams.

When he isn’t solving complex technical problems, spearheading technological growth, or maneuvering tricky mergers and acquisitions, Bill enjoys spending time with family and friends, backpacking, canoeing, skiing, snowboarding, or simply lounging on the beach.