Global InformationGeneral Electric information
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| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
Traded as |
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| ISIN | US3696043013 (2021–2024) |
| Industry | Conglomerate |
| Predecessor | Edison General Electric Company Thomson-Houston Electric Company |
| Founded | April 15, 1892 in Schenectady, New York, US |
| Founders |
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| Defunct | April 2, 2024 |
| Fate | Spin-off of assets and rebrand to GE Aerospace |
| Successors |
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| Headquarters | One Financial Center Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Revenue |  US$68 billion (2023) |
Operating income | US$9 billion (2023) |
Net income | US$9 billion (2023) |
| Total assets |  US$163 billion (2023) |
| Total equity | US$29 billion (2023) |
Number of employees | 125,000 (2023) |
| Subsidiaries |
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| Website | www |
| Footnotes / references [4] | |
General Electric Company (GE) was an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the state of New York and headquartered in Boston. The company had several divisions, including aerospace, energy, healthcare, and finance.[5][6][7][8]
In 2020, GE ranked among the Fortune 500 as the 33rd largest firm in the United States by gross revenue.[9] In 2023, the company was ranked 64th in the Forbes Global 2000.[10] In 2011, GE ranked among the Fortune 20 as the 14th most profitable company, but later very severely underperformed the market (by about 75%) as its profitability collapsed.[11][12][13] Two employees of GE—Irving Langmuir (1932) and Ivar Giaever (1973)—have been awarded the Nobel Prize.[14]
Following the Great Recession of the late 2000s, General Electric began selling off various divisions and assets, including its appliances and financial capital divisions, under Jeff Immelt's leadership as CEO. John Flannery, Immelt's replacement in 2017, further divested General Electric's assets in locomotives and lighting, in order to focus the company more on aviation. After restrictions on air travel during the COVID-19 pandemic caused General Electric's revenue to fall significantly in 2020, GE's final CEO Larry Culp[15] announced in November 2021 that General Electric was to be broken up into three separate, public companies—GE Aerospace, GE HealthCare, and GE Vernova—by 2024. The new companies are respectively focused on aerospace, healthcare, and energy.[16] GE HealthCare's spin-off was finalized on January 4, 2023. This was followed by the spin-off of GE's portfolio of energy businesses on April 2, 2024, into GE Vernova. Following these transactions, General Electric Company changed its name to GE Aerospace, pivoted to aviation, and ceased to exist as a conglomerate.[15]
- ^ Hall, Peter D. (1984). The Organization of American Culture, 1700–1900: Private Institutions, Elites, and the Origins of American Nationality. New York University Press. p. 237. ISBN 0-8147-3425-1.
After mustering out, Henry Lee Higginson gave up his ambitions to become a musician and went into cotton farming and oil prospecting; by 1868, he was a partner in the family investment banking firm, Lee, Higginson & Company. As an entrepreneur, he became one of the most active and innovative organizers of national scale enterprise, ranging from western railroads and copper mines through the American Telephone & Telegraph Company, General Electric and General Motors.
- ^ Strouse, Jean (2014) [1999]. Morgan: American Financier. Random House Trade Paperbacks. p. 313. ISBN 978-0-8129-8704-1.
...When [Charles] Coffin's banker, Henry Lee Higginson suggested a merger early in 1891, J.P. Morgan wrote back, 'The Edison system affords us all the use of time and capital that I think desirable to use in one channel. If, as would seem to be the case, you have the control of the Thomson-Houston, we will see which will make the best result. I do not see myself how the two things can be brought together.'[¶] A year later, [Morgan] had changed his mind—perhaps because Thomson-Houston was winning the marketplace war...Morgan wrote to Higginson's associate T. Jefferson Coolidge in March of 1892: 'I entirely agree with you that it is desirable to bring about closer management between the two companies.'[¶] Morgan told Coolidge in March that [Henry] Villard's resignation would take effect on April 1, and urged that Coffin 'be then elected President of the Edison General Electric Company.' When the new firm was chartered in New York on April 1, 1892, however, with Coffin as its president, it was not called Edison General but General Electric. [¶] Each Edison share was converted into one share in the new company, while three Thomson-Houston shares brought five in GE. The bankers capitalized the consolidation at $50 million: $15 million went to the Edison stockholders, $18 million to Thomson-Houston's, and $17 million (in stock) into the GE treasury...Morgan and Coster took seats on the GE board, as did Higginson, Coolidge and Edison...
- ^ Carlson, W. Bernard. Innovation as a Social Process: Elihu Thomson and the Rise of General Electric. Cambridge University Press. pp. 294–296. ISBN 0-521-39317-5.
- ^ General Electric Company, Form 10-K (Annual Report) (Report). US Securities and Exchange Commission. February 2, 2024. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ Wragg, David W. (1973). A Dictionary of Aviation (first ed.). Osprey. p. 142. ISBN 9780850451634.
- ^ Egan, Matt (June 13, 2018). "Inside the dismantling of GE". CNN Money. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018.
- ^ "2017 Annual Report SEC Form 10-K Summary of Operating Segments" (PDF). GE. p. 26. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 12, 2018. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
- ^ Chesto, Jon (August 2, 2021). "GE stock is now trading at $100 but the company's turnaround efforts still have a ways to go". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on August 3, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
- ^ "Fortune 500". Fortune. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
- ^ "The Global 2000 2023". Forbes. Archived from the original on January 29, 2024. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
- ^ Thomas Gryta; Tedd Mann (December 14, 2018). "GE Powered the American Century – Then It Burned Out". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on August 10, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
- ^ "What the Hell Happened at GE?". Fortune. Archived from the original on August 11, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
- ^ "Fortune 20 most profitable companies: IBM". Fortune. 2011. Archived from the original on May 8, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2010.
- ^ "Heritage of Research". General Electric. Archived from the original on August 10, 2016. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
- ^ a b Chesto, Jon (April 1, 2024). "GE's long life as giant industrial conglomerate enters new era, as company splits up on Tuesday". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on April 1, 2024.
- ^ Mazein, Elodie (April 1, 2024). "Swan song for General Electric as it completes demerger". AFP. Archived from the original on April 2, 2024 – via Yahoo! News.
The official finalization of the separation comes Tuesday, with General Electric disappearing in favor of GE Vernova, dealing with energy activities, and GE Aerospace, the new name of the late GE.