Former GE CEO Jack Welch dies
Former General Electric (GE) CEO John “Jack” Welch died at age 84, the company confirmed in a statement Monday. He was a chairman and CEO from 1981 to 2001.
Jack Welch
Former General Electric (GE) CEO John “Jack” Welch died at age 84, the company confirmed in a statement Monday.
Welch, who was GE’s chairman and chief executive from 1981 to 2001, is credited with making GE a multinational company and the most valuable companies in the world during the late-1990s, The Associated Press reported.
The former CEO was born in Massachusetts in 1935 and studied chemical engineering before developing GE into the industrial and financial services powerhouse it became, according to the AP. The executive increased the company’s profits five-fold and its market capitalization 30-fold.
In 1999, Fortune magazine named the executive the “Manager of the Century,” according to the news outlet.
Welch wrote several books including “Jack: Straight From the Gut” which was released on September 11, 2001.
“From the day I joined GE to the day I was named CEO, 20 years later, my bosses cautioned me about my candor,” Welch wrote in the book. “I was labeled abrasive and consistently warned my candor would soon get in the way of my career … and I’m telling you that it was candor that helped make it work.”
Current GE Chairman and CEO Larry Culp recognized the “sad day” in a statement, saying when he last saw Welch, the former executive was asking him how he was running the company.
“He will be deeply missed by me and the entire GE team,” he said. “And we’ll continue to honor his legacy by doing exactly what Jack would want us to do: win.”
Source: The Hill