Welch On GE's Immelt: "He's Getting His Ass Kicked"

What does former GE (GE) boss and straight-from-the-gut management superstar Jack Welch think caused GE's first quarter bomb? Is GE's model broken? (Common analyst conclusion.) Did the economy and "market disruption" cause unforeseeable problems? (Wimpy GE explanation.)

Hell no!, said Jack on GE-owned network CNBC this morning.

The problem is simple: GE CEO Jeff Immelt (Jack's handpicked successor). Jeff made a promise to deliver something, Jack roared, and, three weeks later, he failed to deliver it.

"Jeff has a credibility issue," said Jack. "He's getting his ass kicked."

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[FreedomCorpse]

Someday CEO's and their crony board of directors will figure out that Milton Freidman's economic theories are pure rubbish...but they are really slow learners because their tunnel vision won't allow them to see the world and the way it really works.

[WIpatriot]

I see that this morning Jack Welch is backpedalling on his statement here.
Told ya Jeff was headed over to Jack's house....

[mmckinl]

Jack Welch put GE in terrible shape ... Then left after over 1 billion in compensation ...

Goizueta did much the same thing at Coca Cola and left with over 1 biillion in goodies.

The story is the same, CEOs play for short term gain to boost their bonuses then leave when the game runs out.

[schatsie]

Exactly!!!! I will never forget the country club picture of Jack's staff at GE that was published in the NYT... Imagine, 33 people, and guess how many women (not a single one) and how many blacks (1, couldn't be a token could he????)

Of course, raid the cooky jar and blame it on the next guy, this is 3rd grade stuff and the journalists should be digging....(but then who owns the journalists ???? maybe GE)

[oceanlover]

Now that Jack's retired, he should attempt the truly impossible. Like growing some hair on that head of his. It's scary to think that any woman would be attracted to him.

[samuraijack]

Welch's suggestion: "Just fire about 100,000 employees, that's what I would do"

[jerrypenguin]

He wasn't called Neutron Jack for nothing. Of course, this is standard for US corporate "leadership." Get rid of employees, sell assets, ship physical plant out of the US, collect a billion bucks and retain access to the corporate jet. These people are the winners. Their motto seems to be "I got mine suckers."

[marko77]

I don't care what one of these cretins says about the other. Both have helped destroy what used to be a great American corporation.

GE used to make great products before outsourcing all the work to the Third World. Now, poor Chinese laborers work on the cheap, and there's not an American worker in sight producing anything for GE.

And have you seen GE's latest commerical touting "MRIs for the rural Chinese." Honestly, these GE people would put Barnum and Baily to shame.

[Irons]

Welch is the most over-rated person in the USA. His book sucks, and he presided over GE when everyone was making hand over fist.

[IncredulousGeezer]

Put Jack back there, let him neutron bomb the company again & he'll have it straightened out in no time. LOL

Hasn't anyone told him that times are crappy, product orders are down & GE Financial swooned just like the rest of that industry.

Stay home, Jack & take care of Suzie, your days of glory at GE are over.

[Rog49Thomas]

Brother Jack indeed presided over an apparently miraculous time at GE.

100 quarters of continuous profit increases.

Almost seems too good to be true. (Which is generally a sign that it is_.

There was apparent under reserving at its reinsurance subsidiary during the last five years of Brother Jack's "miracle" - which was responsible for $0.61 of the $0.65 increase in earnings per share. Or $6.1 billion of earnings during the period.

It also seems there were other accounting miracles.

The company is actually a disguised financial services company rather than a manufacturing company.

[HowietheScreamer]

That's a LAUGH RIOT... Jack Welch talking about "Credibility"... um Jackie... did you get that divorce thing straightend out? You know the one you got sucked into because you CHEATED ON YOUR WIFE... and let the PRENUP expire... yea... you're on the ball. Probably outsourced your lawyer to India.

[Rog49Thomas]

If you check out the Smoking Gun, you should be able to find Brother Jack's wife description of all the perks associated with his "special" retirement benefits. These were to top of previous benefits - amounting to a rather substantial fortune.

GE for some reason overlooked disclosing in its proxy statements.

That is until Sister Jane's lawyers introduced them in the proceedings.

[WIpatriot]

Watch out, Jack. Jeff's on his way over right now....

[GiveMeStrength]

Sour Grapes from Jack. He seems to forget that 6.5 years into his time as CEO; GE consistently performed at the bottom of the Dow 30. It was only when the economy took off in 1993, 12 years in the Jack's rein at GE, that GE's stock price and profits took off. Jeff has 5.5 years to go.