Longview Asset Management, the largest shareholder of General Dynamics and the manager of the Henry Crown family fortune, has cut its stake in the US defense contractor by nearly $1 billion, according to filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
SEC filings show Longview held 27,096,788 shares of General Dynamics common stock, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, as of August 26. By October 1, that position had fallen to 24,388,917 shares. That amounts to a reduction of 2,707,871 shares, or about 10% of its stake over the period.
From September 1 through October 1, Longview completed 25 separate sales totaling 2,707,871 shares for gross proceeds of about $954 million. In September alone, it sold 2,638,137 shares out of General Dynamics’ total monthly trading volume of 27,591,000 shares. That means Longview accounted for 9.6% of all General Dynamics stock traded during the month.
The firm had disclosed its plans in advance. In an August 28 filing, Longview told investors it intended to conduct open-market sales of up to 3,387,098 shares, equal to as much as 12.5% of its position at the time and worth about $1.3 billion based on then-current value.
The timing drew attention. General Dynamics has fallen 13% since August 26, while the S&P 500 has risen over the same stretch, according to the report.
Longview did not point to any company-specific issue behind the sales. A spokesperson described the move as general portfolio diversification. In its filing, the firm said: “Sales are driven by the reporting person’s own internal portfolio allocation considerations and are unrelated to any matter pertaining to the Issuer.” The issuer in this case is General Dynamics.
General Dynamics reported $52.6 billion in revenue in 2025 and had a backlog of $136.5 billion at the end of its second quarter. The report also noted that in July, the US Navy awarded its electric boat unit a share of a combined $76.6 billion contract covering 14 submarines.
Since Longview’s selling began, General Dynamics’ market capitalization has declined by more than $10 billion. The company has also announced a leadership change: Danny Deep will replace Phebe Novakovic as chief executive officer on January 1, 2027, and Novakovic will become executive chairman. The leadership announcement came after Longview had already started selling.
Longview first acquired shares in General Dynamics in 1959. Before this round of sales, it had remained the top holder in the $89 billion military equipment provider.