Company Overview

General Electric is the grandfather of all electronics companies and one of the most recognized brand names in the world. Subsidiary companies include GE Capital Corporation, one of the world's largest financial services companies; GE Appliances, known for its advertising slogan “we bring good things to life”; and NBC Universal. Other subsidiaries produce everything from aircraft engines to nuclear reactors to medical equipment.

Former CEO Jack Welch has had to deal with the backlash of the cult of personality he helped create via relentless self-promotion. In Welch’s more than 20-year tenure as CEO, GE’s market cap soared and the business community came to revere him as a genius. Yet even as “Neutron Jack” was firing thousands, citing the need to cut costs, he was taking home absurdly humongous paychecks. But the stuff didn’t really hit the fan until Welch started an affair with the editor of the Harvard Business Review and his wife filed for divorce. More recently, the SEC launched a probe into Welch’s compensation, resulting in a cease-and-desist order toward GE regarding their past failure to disclose lavish perks, such as an $11 million luxury apartment.

In 2001 Jack Immelt stepped in as CEO, and has made sweeping changes in response, spinning off most of its insurance businesses in large sales, including the unloading of the GE Insurance Solutions and Employers Reinsurance divisions to Swiss Re for $8.5 billion in 2006. At the same time, he expanded the company’s real estate operations with $4.8 billion purchase of Arden Realty, a commercial investment trust. Even in its core manufacturing market, GE has begun a total overhaul to its brand image. An example of this its appliance line, where it increased capital investment by more than 60 percent in the past few years; increased its marketing budget by 66 percent in the past two years; introduced the trendy, high-end Monogram line of stoves, ovens, and refrigerators; and generated $2 billion in revenue in 2005. Immelt also worked to repair relations with his employees, revealing a 10- to 20-percent increase in pension payments to 130,000 retirees before 2008. GE experienced another year of growth in 2006, as profits rose 27 percent and the company made some major announcements: NBC Universal purchased the Oxygen network for approximately $875 million, and GE Aviation scored $10 billion in orders at the 10th annual Dubai Airshow, making it the most successful show ever for the sector. To meet the strong demand for its engines, including the hugely successful GEnx, GE also announced plans to expand its jet engine production rates by more than 50 percent.

In 2008 the company announced plans to sell or spin off its appliance manufacturing business, and in preparation the company has reorganized into 4 divisions: GE Capital, Technology Infrastructure, Energy Infrastructure, and NBC Universal (80% owned). In the same year the company also established a joint venture with Abu Dhabi investment company Mubadala Development to provide commercial financing in the Middle East and Africa. In October 2008 GE announced plans to sell $12 billion of common stock to the public, along with $3 billion of perpetual preferred stock in a private offering to Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.  CEO Jack Immelt says this move allows GE to "play offense" in a volatile market.