General Electric, long a symbol of American manufacturing and steeped in rich history, is officially leaving its existence as a sprawling conglomerate.
The Boston company, known for everything from light bulbs to airplane engines, has completed its split into three separate companies, as its aerospace and energy businesses begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange as separate entities on Tuesday distinct.
GE announced in November 2021 its intention to divide into three companies focused on aviation, energy and healthcare. At the time, the company had already gotten rid of the devices that made it famous. In 2020, GE stopped selling the light bulbs it had manufactured since its founding in the late 19th century.
At its peak, GE’s stock became one of the most sought-after on Wall Street under the leadership of Jack Welch, one of America’s first “superstar” CEOs. Nicknamed “the house that Jack built,” GE has consistently outperformed its peers and the market as a whole, helped in part by GE Capital, its financial arm. During the 1990s, its return on investments amounted to 1,120.6%. GE’s revenue grew five-fold during the tenure of Welch – who was named chief executive in 1981 – and the company’s value increased 30-fold.
Yet the title began to lag in the summer of 2001, as Welch’s reign ended.
The GE split is the culmination of years of matching by the massive conglomerate, marking the abandonment of a corporate structure that dominated American business for decades.
In a letter to shareholders in February, CEO Larry Culp discussed GE’s history, recalling how, in the very first letter to shareholders, CEO Charles Coffin “wrote that the creation of the General Electric Company was ‘largely due to zeal and warm cooperation.” functioning” of our employees.
With the split of his companies complete, Culp said it’s not an end, but rather a beginning for GE.
“A belief in a better way has propelled this company forward since our beginnings,” he wrote.
THE name One area of the aerospace business that essentially makes up the remaining core of GE, led by CEO Larry Culp, is GE Aerospace. It manufactures jet engines and turboprops and retains the “GE” symbol.
With an installed base of approximately 44,000 commercial engines and approximately 26,000 military and defense engines worldwide, GE Aerospace reported adjusted revenue of approximately $32 billion last year. It projects operating profit of around $10 billion by 2028.
The energy wing, which includes GE Renewable Energy, GE Power, GE Digital and GE Energy Financial Services, is called GE Vernova. It trades on the NYSE under the symbol “GEV”. GE Vernova has an installed base of more than 7,000 gas turbines and approximately 55,000 wind turbines. The company says it helps produce about 30% of the world’s electricity.
The healthcare business, called GE Healthcare, provides diagnostic scanners, imaging patents and software. It began trading on Nasdaq under the symbol “GEHC” in January 2023.
“With the successful launch of three independent public companies now complete, today marks a final historic milestone in GE’s multi-year transformation,” Culp said in a statement.
At midday, shares of GE Aerospace were up 2.8%, GE Vernova was up about 3.9% and GE Healthcare was down about 0.7%.
