the fall of General Electric

The collapse of General Electric stands apart. GE^°hard word was the bluest^°hard word of the blue-chips^°hard word: descended from Thomas^°hard word Edison^°hard word and J.P. Morgan^°hard word, it was one of the original^°hard word twelve components^°hard word of the Dow^°hard word in 1896, and grew^°hard word to become one of the leading technology^°hard word giants of the early 20th^°hard word century. After WWII^°hard word, GE^°hard word evolved^°hard word into an industrial^°hard word behemoth with dominant^°hard word positions in a dizzying^°hard word array^°hard word of electricity-adjacent^°hard word markets, from jet^°hard word engines and turbines^°hard word to light bulbs and home appliances^°hard word.

In the 1980s, GE^°hard word ascended^°hard word to new heights^°hard word. Jack^°hard word Welch^°hard word took the reins^°hard word as^°hard word CEO^°hard word in 1981, and he established GE^°hard word a major player in media^°hard word and financial^°hard word services while reinforcing^°hard word GE^°hard word’s position in select^°hard word attractive^°hard word industrial^°hard word markets. For most of the 1990s and 2000s, GE^°hard word was the most valuable^°hard word company in America^°hard word, with a valuation^°hard word topping^°hard word out at over $1 trillion^°hard word in 2023 dollars^°hard word. While GE^°hard word had some skeptics^°hard word and critics^°hard word at the time, it was typically^°hard word seen^°hard word as^°hard word a corporate^°hard word paragon^°hard word, regularly named by Fortune^°hard word as^°hard word the most admired^°hard word company in the world^°hard word. Welch^°hard word was regarded^°hard word as^°hard word a management^°hard word guru^°hard word, and his underlings^°hard word were routinely^°hard word poached^°hard word to become CEOs^°hard word at other Fortune^°hard word 500 companies.

And then^°hard word, a few years ago, it all unraveled^°hard word in spectacular^°hard word fashion^°hard word. Much of the supposed^°hard word success^°hard word from the Welch^°hard word era^°hard word of the 1980s and 1990s proved^°hard word to be illusory^°hard word, the product^°hard word of temporary^°hard word tailwinds^°hard word and aggressive^°hard word accounting. GE^°hard word’s fortunes^°hard word worsened^°hard word under the reign^°hard word of Welch^°hard word’s handpicked^°hard word successor^°hard word, Jeff^°hard word Immelt^°hard word, who took over in 2001. Immelt^°hard word struggled^°hard word to cope^°hard word with the problems he inherited^°hard word, which were compounded^°hard word by the 2008 financial^°hard word crisis^°hard word and major missteps^°hard word of his own. In 2017, when the extent^°hard word of GE^°hard word’s problems became^°hard word clear, GE^°hard word’s stock nose-dived^°hard word, and Immelt^°hard word was pushed out.

GE^°hard word has been one of the worst performing^°hard word mega-cap^°hard word stocks of the modern^°hard word era^°hard word. A $1,000 investment^°hard word in the S&P 500 in 2000 would be worth^°hard word over $2,700 today (excluding^°hard word dividends^°hard word), while a $1,000 investment^°hard word in GE^°hard word in 2000 would have dwindled^°hard word to only $210. Even going all the way back to Welch^°hard word’s appointment^°hard word in 1981, the S&P has outperformed^°hard word GE^°hard word by a three-to-one^°hard word margin^°hard word.