Leidos Holdings, Inc. is an American defense, aviation, information technology, and biomedical research company headquartered in Reston, Virginia, that provides scientific, engineering, systems integration, and technical services.

The company was founded by J. Robert "Bob" Beyster in 1969 in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, as Science Applications Incorporated (SAI).

Major projects during Beyster's tenure included work on radiation therapy for the Los Alamos National Laboratory; technical support and management assistance to the development of the cruise missile in the 1970s; the cleanups of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station after its major accident, and of the contaminated community of Love Canal; design and performance evaluation of the Stars & Stripes 87, the winning ship for the 1987 America's Cup; and the design of the first luggage inspection machine to pass new Federal Aviation Administration tests following the terrorist bombing of Pan American flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

[24] Before the split, Leidos employed 39,600 employees and reported $11.17 billion in revenue and $525 million net income for its fiscal year ended January 31, 2013,[25] making it number 240[26] on the Fortune 500 list.

[45] Then-SAIC had as part of its management and on its board of directors, many well-known ex-government personnel including Melvin Laird, Secretary of Defense in the Nixon administration; William Perry, Secretary of Defense for Bill Clinton; John M. Deutch, Director of Central Intelligence under President Clinton; Admiral Bobby Ray Inman who served in various capacities in the National Security Agency (NSA) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for the Ford, Carter and Reagan administrations; and David Kay who led the search for weapons of mass destruction after the 1991 Gulf War and served under the Bush administration after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

[46][47] In June 2001, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) paid SAIC US$122 million to create a Virtual Case File (VCF) software system to speed up the sharing of information among agents.

Robert Mueller, FBI Director, testified to a congressional committee, "When SAIC delivered the first product in December 2003 we immediately identified a number of deficiencies – 17 at the outset.

"[48] In 2005, then-SAIC executive vice president Arnold L. Punaro claimed that the company had "fully conformed to the contract we have and gave the taxpayers real value for their money."

It recommended that U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis “consider appropriate action against Leidos” such as “compensatory damages, including back pay, employee benefits and other terms and conditions of employment” that the contractor would have received under the additional contract.

Additionally, in September 2023, Leidos was served with a separate grand jury subpoena regarding possible violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, linked to activities within its international operations that were identified in late 2021.

[53] Spruce Point Capital Management raised concerns about potential mismanagement and fraud at Leidos, forecasting a downside risk of up to 60% for the company's shares.

The investment firm criticized Leidos for what it described as a "waste" of $1 billion on the acquisition of L3Harris Technologies' airport security business, which occurred just before a significant decline in passenger traffic due to the pandemic.

Spruce Point also highlighted that then Leidos CEO Roger Krone's previous association with Boeing, a company that has faced multiple controversies, raises further concerns.

The report claimed that Leidos is concealing numerous product defects from investors, particularly regarding faulty explosive detection systems used at airports, ports, and borders.

A spokesperson confirmed that the leak originated from a prior incident involving a third-party vendor and emphasized that it did not affect Leidos' network or sensitive customer data.

In a letter from House Science Committee Chair Frank Lucas (R-OK) and Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), the company was criticized for allegedly failing to address these serious issues adequately.

The controversy has drawn attention to the broader challenges of addressing sexual misconduct in remote work environments, with advocacy groups like Ice Allies calling for more robust action since 2019.