Jack Welch, who reshaped the face of General Electric into a highly profitable multinational conglomerate and held a reputation as one of the top CEOs of all time, died due to renal failure on Sunday at the age of 84.
Welch's business acumen and result-oriented management style helped GE become a global conglomerate. Under his leadership as chairman and chief executive officer, from 1981 to 2001, the market value of GE increased from $14 billion to $410 billion.
Called the world's toughest boss, Welch cut expenses of GE to build it into a lean and mean engine of growth. His relentless efforts to rid GE of unprofitable businesses and cut costs led to the loss of thousands of jobs. This resulted in revenue growth of nearly fivefold, and the firm's market capitalisation shot up 30-fold. Welch could transform the company from an appliance maker into an industrial and financial services powerhouse.
During his twenty-year career at the helm of GE, Jack Welch defied conventional wisdom. Fortune magazine name him "The Manager of the Century" for his abrasive yet innovative style.
When Welch bade goodbye to GE, he was given a severance payment roughly between $417-$420 million, which was the highest of its kind at the time.
His autobiography, Jack: Straight from the Gut, has been a runaway New York Times bestseller.
Although released on the very morning of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the book became a best-seller, and led to frequent speaking engagements where he took his candour on stage.
Welsh taught at MIT's Sloan School of Management in 2006 with focus on business leadership. In 2009, he founded the Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University, offering a MBA degree, graduate certificates, and executive certificates for working people.
He is survived by his third wife, Suzy Welch, and four children with his first wife, Carolyn.
Having earned his BS degree in chemical engineering from the University of Massachusetts, and his MS and Ph.D. degrees in chemical engineering at the University of Illinois in 1960, Welch joined GE as a chemical engineer at its plastics division in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He became the company’s youngest vice president in 1972 and rose to the position of vice chairman in 1979.
President Donald Trump tweeted, “There was no corporate leader like 'neutron' Jack,” adding his warmest sympathies “to his wonderful wife & family!” In 2016, Welch was invited by Donald Trump to join a business council to provide strategic advice on issues of the economy.
“Today is a sad day for the entire GE family,” GE Chairman and CEO Larry Culp said in a statement.