Immelt to step down at GE, Flannery to take CEO post
General Electric said Monday that Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt, 61, will be stepping down after 16 years at the helm. John Flannery, CEO of GE Healthcare, will step up to the top spot at the company on August 1.
Immelt will remain chairman of the board through December 31, when he will retire.
The shakeup has been long anticipated by investors.
Barclays managing director Scott Davis told CNBC’s Squawk Box that General Electric had been "an unmitigated disaster for shareholders.”
Davis also told CNBC he expected Flannery would break up many of GE’s businesses, suggesting a spinoff of GE Healthcare might already be in the works.
Immelt’s tenure did see some bold moves, according to a GE statement announcing the move. “Immelt led the successful transformation of GE into a simpler, stronger and more focused digital industrial portfolio aligned to key markets – power, aviation, transportation, healthcare and oil and gas,” the company said.
Immelt also presided over the launch of Healthymagination, an initiative aimed at boosting healthcare innovation, focused on lowering costs, increasing access and improving quality of care.
Flannery’s next move
Flannery, 55, began his career at GE Capital in 1987 where he focused on evaluating risk for leveraged buy-outs. In the 1990s, he was a leader in the corporate restructuring and workout group, where he was known for his negotiating skills and ability to improve companies’ operations.
In 1997, he moved to Argentina where he led GE’s Equity business in Latin America and the overall GE Capital business for Argentina and Chile. Flannery then took the reins as president and CEO of GE Equity in 2002, leading the business through a difficult cycle.
In 2005, he moved to Asia where he was responsible for the Asia Pacific region for GE Capital, and while there, he grew earnings in Japan by 100 percent, in Korea by 30 percent and in Australia by 25 percent.
In 2009, he moved to India, where he upgraded the leadership team, built the culture and focused on the industrial side of the business. He increased industrial sales by 50 percent in 2011.
Finally, nn 2013, he was tapped to lead business development at GE Corporate where he focused on capital allocation for the company and led the acquisition of Alstom, the largest industrial acquisition in the company’s history. He also worked on shrinking GE Capital, the Synchrony Financial IPO, and the disposition of GE Appliances.
Twitter: @Bernie_HITN
Email the writer: bernie.monegain@himssmedia.com
