General Electric

General Electric or GE isnameone ofworld's largest corporations. Its full official name"General Electric Company." The abbreviation GEofficially recognized bycompany,trademarked,used innamesits component businesses, its website,its stock symbol onNew York Stock Exchange. It should not be confusedGEC, The General Electric Co. Ltd. As2003,Microsoft's share price falling fromfallout fromtech stock boom, General Electric has regained its position ascompany withlargest market capitalization inworld,forpast 4 years has hadhighest or second income (loosely thoughtas profit)any company inworld.

Employees (2000): 313,000. Revenue 2001: $126bn

Tablecontents

1 History 2 Today 3 External link

History

In 1876, Thomas Alva Edison openednew laboratoryMenlo Park, New Jersey. Out oflaboratory wascome perhapsmost famous inventionall-a successful development ofincandescent electric lamp. By 1890, Edison had organized his various businesses intoEdison General Electric Company.

In 1879 Elihu ThomsonE. J. Houston formedrival Thomson-Houston Company. It mergedvarious companieswas later led by Charles A. Coffin,former shoe manufacturer from Lynn, Massachusetts.

Mergerscompetitors andpatent rights owned by each company put them into dominant positions inelectrical industry. As businesses expanded,became increasingly difficulteither companyproduce complete electrical installations relying solely on their own technology. In 1892, these two major companies combinedformGeneral Electric Company,its headquartersSchenectady, New York.

Today

GEan enormous multinational industrial company engaged inwide varietymarkets includinggeneration, transmissiondistributionelectricity. GEalso involvedlighting, industrial automation, medical imaging equipment, motors, railway locomotives, military gatling guns, aircraft jet engines, aviation servicesmaterials such as plastics, siliconesabrasives. It was co-founderissole current ownerNBC,National Broadcasting Company. As General Electric Capital Servicesoffersrangefinancial services as well. It haspresenceover 100 countries.

The CEO from 1981-2001 was Jack Welch, who many regard as one ofpremier business managershis era. Nicknamed "Neutron Jack", he presided over28-fold increaserevenuehis policy (referredby detractors as "rankyank")sackingworst performing 10%his staff every year. In running GE's many diverse businesses he maintainedpolicyonly keeping those businesses which were #1 or #2 within their respective industries.

See alsolistassets owned by General Electric.

External link

General Electric's website