Jack ‘Neutron’ Welch, chief executive of General Electric, dies age 84
Jack Welch, the architect of General Electric’s (GE) rise to becoming at one time the most valuable company in the US, has died aged 84, the firm has announced.
Over the course of his two decades as chief executive of the industrial giant, Welch grew the firm’s market value from $12bn to $410bn, expanding General Electric into financial services and consulting as he did so.
Before he took over in 1981, GE’s revenue was $26.8m; by the time he finished, in 2001, it had swollen to $130bn.
Dubbed “neutron Jack” in the 1980s for his appetite for job cuts – in his memoir, Welch said that GE had 411,000 employees in 1980, but only 299,000 in 1985 – Welch bought and sold scores of businesses during his tenure.
However, his desire to expand the financial services division of the firm nearly wrecked the entire conglomerate during the global finance crisis, meaning shares now trade at a fraction of previous prices.
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US president Donald Trump hailed the industrial titan, tweeting: “There was no corporate leader like “neutron” Jack. He was my friend and supporter. We made wonderful deals together. He will never be forgotten. My warmest sympathies to his wonderful wife & family!”
Welch spent his whole life at GE, joining the firm after receiving a PhD degree in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois in 1960.
He was elected the company’s youngest vice president in 1972 and became vice chairman in 1979.
Welch took over from chief executive Reginald Jones in April 1981 and remained in post until his retirement in 2001.
In 1999, he was named “Manager of the Century,” by Fortune, while the Financial Times named him one of the three most admired business leaders in the world.