Hot Seat

Jeff Immelt ran GE for 16 years. He followed legendary Jack Welch, and couldn’t maintain momentum through the Great Recession or satisfy investors. In this frank postmortem, Immelt blames himself and impatient investors. His candor and refusal to sugar-coat his failures make for compelling reading.

CEO of GE

Investors regarded Jack Welch, who was CEO of GE before the author, as one of the best leaders in Wall Street history. During Welch’s tenure, investors valued GE as if it were a technology company instead of an agglomeration that made jet engines, broadcast television shows, insured pets, and spent little on research and development.