Monday, June 12, 2017

GE Chief Jeff Immelt Resigns - major investor sought sea change

Jeff Immelt,who led General Electric through some tumultuous years after the celebrated Jack Welch retired,has turned over the reigns of the multinational conglomerate to John Flannery,President and CEO of the GE Health Care subsidiary.Mr.Immelt was faulted by investors for the company's lackluster share price;indeed,it was down about 12% on the year as of close of trading on Friday.
Mr.Flannery said:
I am privileged to have spent the last 16 years at the company working for Jeff,one of the greatest business leaders of our time.*
Mr.Flannery,who takes over on 1 August,also promised to assess the company's condition.He was credited with the turnaround of GE Health Care,increasing organic revenue by five percent in 2016.*
Mr.Immelt was well-liked by his fellow CEOs,including Jamie Dimon of Chase;Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs;and Jack Welch,his predecessor.As for GE itself,it stated that:
Immelt's vision has positioned GE for the future and greatly strengthened the GE culture.
Lead independent director Jack Brennan added that:
During this time of dynamic global markets and relentless focus on technical and operational excellence,there is no better person to lead GE than John Flannery.He brings unique experience and a broad skill set to the job.*
Jeff Immelt,who took charge immediately before the 9-11 attacks,saw the company through the years of the Afghan and Iraq Wars,as well as the Financial Crisis.He slimmed GE Finance down and jettisoned GE Appliances;while at the same time purchasing France's Alstom Power and establishing GE Software.This wasn't quite enough for one of the firm's biggest investors,billionaire Nelson Pelz,whose Trian Capital bought a one percent stake in GE in 2015.Trian pushed GE to reduce costs and boost profitability.*
The company's shares rose 3.67% to 28.97 as of 12:36 pm.*
General Electric (GE)

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