Jack Welch, Legendary CEO of General Electric, Dies at Age 84
Jack Welch led General Electric Co. through two decades of unparalleled growth and transformation, with a brash style that single-handedly remade the conglomerate and changed the landscape of America corporations. He died Sunday at age 84.
Mr. Welch’s success, driven by a hard-nosed strategy to slash less profitable businesses and unproductive employees, made him an international celebrity in the 1980s and drove GE to become the most valuable U.S. company during the 1990s. He groomed a generation of business leaders who went on to run giants such as Boeing Co. and Home Depot Inc.
His retirement in 2001 brought bestselling books and more adoration, but GE’s troubles in the decades after his exit—under his handpicked successor, Jeff Immelt—raised questions about Mr. Welch’s management methods and whether he pushed the conglomerate too hard.
“Today is a sad day for the entire GE family. Jack was larger than life and the heart of GE for half a century. He reshaped the face of our company and the business world,” GE CEO Larry Culp said in a statement. “We’ll continue to honor his legacy by doing exactly what Jack would want us to do: win.”
President Trump offered his condolences to Mr. Welch’s family Monday morning, saying on Twitter that there “was no corporate leader like ‘neutron’ Jack.”
“He will never be forgotten,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. “My warmest sympathies to his wonderful wife & family!”
He is survived by his third wife, Suzy, and four adult children from his first marriage. He married Suzy, a former Harvard Business Review editor, in 2004 after a highly public divorce from his second wife. The couple started an online M.B.A. program and co-wrote several business books.
