Jack Welch#Legacy

Jack Welch was born in Peabody, Massachusetts, the only child of Grace (Andrews), a homemaker, and John Francis Welch Sr., a Boston & Maine Railroad conductor.{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/27/us/jack-welch---fast-facts/|title=Jack Welch Fast Facts - CNN.com|author=CNN Library|date=December 27, 2012|work=CNN}} Welch was Irish American and Catholic. His paternal and maternal grandparents were both Irish.Jack: Straight From The Gut, ({{ISBN|0-446-69068-6}})

Throughout his early life in middle school and high school, Welch found work in the summers as a golf caddie, newspaper delivery boy, shoe salesman, and drill press operator. Welch attended Salem High School, where he participated in baseball, football, and captained the hockey team and became second lieutenant right after graduating

Late in his senior year, Welch was accepted to University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he studied chemical engineering. Welch worked in chemical engineering at Sunoco and PPG Industries during his college summers. In his sophomore year, he became a member of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity. Welch graduated in 1957 with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering, turning down offers from several companies in order to attend graduate school at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He graduated from the University of Illinois, in 1960, with a master's and a PhD in chemical engineering.John F. Welch, "Microscopic Study of Dropwise Condensation", PhD Thesis, University of Illinois, 1961{{Cite web|url = http://www.ge.com/about-us/leadership/profiles/john-f-welch-jr|title = Past Leaders|date = December 7, 2012|access-date = May 14, 2014}}{{Cite web|url = http://www.ge.com/about-us/leadership/profiles/john-f-welch-jr|title = Past Leaders|date = December 7, 2012|access-date = May 14, 2014}}

Jack later received an honorary Doctor of Science from University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1982 and honorary doctorate from University of California, Los Angeles in 2009.

Welch joined General Electric in 1960. He worked as a junior chemical engineer in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, at a salary of $10,500, which would be equivalent to approximately $112,000 in 2025 dollars. In 1961, Welch planned to quit his job as junior engineer because he was dissatisfied with the raise offered to him and was unhappy with the bureaucracy he observed at GE. Welch was persuaded to remain at GE by Reuben Gutoff, an executive at the company, who promised him that he would help create the small-company atmosphere Welch desired.{{cite web|url=http://www.businessweek.com/1998/23/b3581001.htm |title=How Jack Welch Runs GE |publisher=Businessweek.com |date=May 28, 1998 |access-date=July 12, 2010}} In 1963, an explosion blew the roof off the factory under Welch's management, and he was almost fired.{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna33673507|title=Failure 101: A class students could use|date=November 5, 2009|publisher=NBC News|access-date=November 9, 2009|location=New York City}}

By 1968, Welch became the vice president and head of GE's plastics division, which at the time was a $26 million operation for GE. Welch oversaw production as well as the marketing for the GE-developed plastics Lexan and Noryl. Not long after, in 1971, Welch also became the vice president of GE's metallurgical and chemical divisions.{{cite web|last1=Borjas|first1=Thomas|title=Jack Welch 1935|url=http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/biography/S-Z/Welch-Jack-1935.html|access-date=October 2, 2014}} By 1973, Welch was named group executive, managing chemical, metallurgical, medical systems, appliance components and electronic components businesses. He held that position until 1979, which involved him working with the corporate headquarters, exposing him to many of the "big fish" he would one day be among.{{cite book|last1=Welch|first1=Jack|last2=Byrne|first2=John. A.|title=Jack: Straight from the gut|date=2001|publisher=Warner|location=New York|isbn=0-446-69068-6|url=https://archive.org/details/jackstraightfrom00welc_0}} In 1977 Welch was named senior vice president and head of Consumer Products and Services Division, a position he held until 1979 when he became the vice chairman of GE.

In 1981, Welch became GE's youngest chairman and CEO, succeeding Reginald H. Jones. By 1982, Welch had dismantled much of the earlier management put together by Jones with aggressive simplification and consolidation. One of his primary leadership directives was that GE had to be No. 1 or No. 2 in the industries it participated in.{{cite web|title=Jack Welch – Manager of the Century|url=http://www.antiessays.com/free-essays/Jack-Welch-Manager-Of-The-583801.html|website=Anti Essays|access-date=September 29, 2014}}

Through the 1980s, Welch sought to streamline GE. In 1981, he made a speech in New York City called "Growing fast in a slow-growth economy", which is often acknowledged as the "dawn" of the shareholder-value movement.{{Cite web |date=July 11, 2006 |title=The New Rules: Tearing up the Jack Welch playbook |url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/07/24/8381625/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060714202219/https://money.cnn.com/2006/07/10/magazines/fortune/rules.fortune/index.htm |archive-date=July 14, 2006 |access-date=2024-08-18 |website=Fortune at CNN Money}}{{Cite web |date=March 12, 2009 |title=Welch condemns share price focus |url=https://www.ft.com/content/294ff1f2-0f27-11de-ba10-0000779fd2ac?nclick_check=1 |access-date=2024-08-18 |website=Financial Times |place=New York}}Business Week [https://web.archive.org/web/20090322143301/http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/mar2009/db20090316_630496.htm "Jack Welch Elaborates"] (March 16, 2009) Under Welch's leadership, GE increased market value from $12 billion in 1981 to $410 billion when he retired,{{cite web|url=https://www.ge.com/about-us/leadership/profiles/john-f-welch-jr|website=GE website|title=John F. Welch, Jr.|date=December 7, 2012}} making 600 acquisitions while shifting into emerging markets. Welch pioneered a policy of informality at the work place, allowing all employees to have a small-business experience at a large corporation. Welch worked to eradicate perceived inefficiency by trimming inventories and dismantling the bureaucracy that had almost led him to leave GE in the past. He closed factories, reduced payrolls and cut lackluster units.{{cite web|url=http://www.businessweek.com/1996/44/b34991.htm |title=Jack Welch's Encore |publisher=Businessweek.com |date=June 14, 1997 |access-date=July 12, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100101031942/http://www.businessweek.com/1996/44/b34991.htm |archive-date=January 1, 2010 }}

Welch valued surprise and made unexpected visits to GE's plants and offices. Welch popularized so-called "rank and yank" policies used now by other corporate entities. Each year, Welch would fire the bottom 10% of his managers, regardless of absolute performance.{{cite news|last1=Cohan|first1=Peter|title=Why Stack Ranking Worked Better at GE Than Microsoft|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2012/07/13/why-stack-ranking-worked-better-at-ge-than-microsoft/|access-date=October 2, 2014|agency=Forbes}} He earned a reputation for brutal candor. He rewarded those in the top 20% with bonuses and employee stock options. He also broadened the stock options program at GE, extending availability from top executives to nearly one third of all employees. Welch is also known for abolishing the nine-layer management hierarchy.{{cite web|title=Jack Welch|url=http://jpkc.uibe.edu.cn/jingpin/jpkc2004/courses/eng451j/download/gjswja10.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315154648/http://jpkc.uibe.edu.cn/jingpin/jpkc2004/courses/eng451j/download/gjswja10.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 15, 2016|website=Advanced Business English}}

During the early 1980s he was dubbed "Neutron Jack" (in reference to the neutron bomb) for eliminating employees while leaving buildings intact.{{cite web|title=Neutron Jack|url=http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_50/b3711014.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141002172209/http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_50/b3711014.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 2, 2014|website=Business Week|access-date=October 2, 2014}} In Jack: Straight from the Gut, Welch stated GE had 411,000 employees at the end of 1980, and 299,000 at the end of 1985. Of the 112,000 who left the payroll, 37,000 were in businesses which GE sold off, and 81,000 were reduced in continuing businesses. In return, GE had tremendously increased its market capitalization. Welch reduced basic research, and closed or sold off under-performing businesses.

In 1986, GE acquired the RCA Corporation for $6.28 billion, the largest non-oil company merger in history up to that time.{{cite news|last1=Richter|first1=Paul|title=General Electric Will Buy RCA for $6.28 Billion|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-12-12-mn-16152-story.html|access-date=October 2, 2014|agency=LA Times}} Welch and GE subsequently took up an office in the iconic RCA Building, later renamed the GE Building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The RCA acquisition resulted in GE liquidating or selling off virtually all of RCA's divisions and assets to other companies and maintaining NBC as part of the GE portfolio of businesses. During the 1990s, Welch shifted GE's business from manufacturing to financial services through numerous other acquisitions.

Welch adopted Motorola's Six Sigma quality program in late 1995. In 1980, the year before Welch became CEO, GE recorded revenues of roughly $26.8 billion and in 2000, the year before he left, they were nearly $130 billion. By 1999 he was named "Manager of the Century" by Fortune magazine.{{cite web |url=http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,667526,00.html |title=Fortune – GE's Jack Welch Named Manager of the Century – November 01, 1999 |publisher=Time Warner |date=April 26, 1999 |access-date=July 12, 2010 |archive-date=November 21, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121120100/http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,667526,00.html |url-status=dead }}

There was a lengthy and publicized succession planning saga prior to his retirement among James McNerney, Robert Nardelli, and Jeff Immelt, with Immelt eventually selected to succeed Welch as chairman and CEO. His successor plan had always been a priority, as noted in his 1991 speech "From now on, [choosing my successor] is the most important decision I'll make. It occupies a considerable amount of thought almost every day."{{cite news |last1=Girion |first1=Lisa |title=GE Succession a Leadership Lesson |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-dec-03-wp-60548-story.html |access-date=March 2, 2020 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=December 3, 2000}}

Welch's "walk-away" package from GE was not valued at the time of his retirement, but GMI Ratings estimates its worth at $420 million.[http://origin.library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102561686275-69/GMI_GoldenParachutes_012012.pdf Twenty-One U.S. CEOs with Golden Parachutes of More Than $100 Million] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825043016/http://origin.library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102561686275-69/GMI_GoldenParachutes_012012.pdf |date=August 25, 2013 }}| GMI| January 2012 |By Paul Hodgson, Senior Research Associate, and Greg Ruel, Research Associate

He served as Chairman of The Business Council in 1991 and 1992.{{Cite web|url=http://www.thebusinesscouncil.org/about/background.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213615/http://www.thebusinesscouncil.org/about/background.aspx|url-status=dead|title=The Business Council, Official site, Background|archive-date=March 3, 2016}}

Upon his retirement from GE in 2001, Welch had stated that his effectiveness as its CEO for two decades would be measured by the company's performance for a comparable period under his successors. Welch had grown GE to over $450 billion in market capitalization, of which about 40% was in financial services.

Twenty years later, the company's market capitalization was only $200 billion, a decrease of ~55%, and Welch refused to discuss its decline, other than noting much of the decline had resulted from investments in real estate, and that his immediate, handpicked successor Jeff Immelt had to deal with the after effects of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack.{{Cite web|url=http://freakonomics.com/podcast/jack-welch/|title=Extra: Jack Welch Full Interview (Ep. 326)|first=Stephen J.|last=Dubner}} The New York Times published a critical article in 2017, noting GE's stock price as overvalued under Welch because of the growth of the financial services sector, as well as describing the amalgamated corporation's decline in 16 years under Immelt, who likewise was one of the country's highest-paid managers and eventually sold off two of Welch's largest acquisitions, NBCUniversal and GE Capital.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/15/business/ge-jack-welch-immelt.html|title=Did the Jack Welch Model Sow Seeds of G.E.'s Decline?|first=James B.|last=Stewart|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 15, 2017}}

Under Welch's leadership, GE waged a twenty-year battle with the Environmental Protection Agency and New York State over polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) that the company dumped into the Hudson River at its capacitor products division plant in Hudson Falls, New York.

Welch disputed scientists who classified PCBs as forever chemicals that can cause negative health consequences.{{cite web|last1=Williams |first1=Michael |title=Jack Welch, GE chairman who left complicated Capital Region legacy, dies at 84|url=https://www.timesunion.com/business/article/Jack-Welch-GE-chairman-who-left-complicated-15098587.php|access-date=March 2, 2020 |agency=Times Union|date=March 2, 2020}} The chemicals contaminated the aquifer beneath the plant to the point that the water was unusable for human consumption without treatment. New York State's Department of Environmental Consumption also advised people against eating fish from the river near the site.{{cite web |title=General Electric Hudson Falls Plant Site |url=https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8677.html |publisher=NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation Chemical and Pollution Control |access-date=11 November 2020}} He went on to call the Obama administration's prioritization of addressing climate change "radical behavior".{{cite news |last1=Belvedere |first1=Matthew J. |title=Jack Welch says Obama's 'wacky' climate-change agenda hurts the US economy |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/02/jack-welch-says-obamas-wacky-climate-change-agenda-hurts-the-us-economy.html |access-date=November 11, 2020 |agency=CNBC |date=June 2, 2016}}

According to BusinessWeek in 1998, Welch's critics questioned whether the short-term performance pressure he placed on employees may have led them to "cut corners", thus contributing to subsequent scandals over defense-contracting, and/or the Kidder, Peabody & Co. bond-trading scheme in the early 1990s.

The following year, CEO Welch took issue with reclassification of GE in the Fortune 500 as a "diversified financial services company" rather than an "electrical equipment company", and by 2005 many had noted that the price-earnings ratios of the financial services sector were lower than that for GE.{{Cite web|url=https://fortune.com/2015/04/10/jackwelch-ge-gecapital/|title=Jack Welch: GE's slim-down is 'a smart move'|website=Fortune}} In 2014, GE Capital (the company's major financial services branch organized during Welch's tenure) agreed to the largest credit card discrimination settlement in history, concerning many years of deceptive marketing as well as discriminatory credit practices.{{Cite web|url=https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-orders-ge-capital-to-pay-225-million-in-consumer-relief-for-deceptive-and-discriminatory-credit-card-practices/|title=CFPB Orders GE Capital to Pay $225 Million in Consumer Relief for Deceptive and Discriminatory Credit Card Practices|website=Consumer Financial Protection Bureau|date=June 19, 2014 }} After Welch's tenure, GE Capital had been labeled as "too big to fail" and had become regulated by the Federal Reserve. The retired Welch publicly praised his former firm's "slim-down" and return to being an industrial company. In 2018 Welch discussed the different financial culture in Kidder, Peabody & Co., whose acquisition he arranged during his tenure at GE, and whose ethos was based on short-term bonus calculations. Shortly before the settlement was announced, GE Capital renamed itself as Synchrony Bank; the spin-off took two years.

Welch also often received criticism for a lack of compassion for the middle class and working class. When asked about excessive CEO pay compared to ordinary workers (including backdating stock options, golden parachutes for nonperformance, and extravagant retirement packages), Welch labeled such allegations "outrageous" and vehemently opposed proposed SEC regulations affecting executive compensation. Countering the public uproar, Welch declared that CEO compensation should continue to be dictated by the "free market", without interference from government or other outside parties.{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna13840941 |title='Hardball with Chris Matthews' for July 12, 2006 |publisher=NBC News |date=July 13, 2006 |access-date=July 12, 2010}}

Welch's income and assets came under particular scrutiny during his divorce from his second wife, Jane Welch, in 2001, for adultery with the woman who became his third wife. Court filings during the divorce described Welch's GE compensation, which led to a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of the then-retired Welch's employment contracts with GE.{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2002/sep/17/5 | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=David | last=Gow | title=SEC inquiry as Jack Welch gives up freebies | date=September 17, 2002}}{{cite news |title=Welch Walks Away From Perks |author=Mark Lewis |url=https://www.forbes.com/2002/09/16/0917welch.html |work=Forbes |date=September 16, 2002 |access-date=July 23, 2012}}

In 1996, Welch and GE had agreed to a "retention package" worth $2.5 million, and which promised continued access after Welch's retirement to benefits he had received as CEO—including an apartment in New York, baseball tickets and the use of a private jet and chauffeured car.{{cite news |title=Jack Welch: 'I Fell In Love' |author=Rebecca Leung |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jack-welch-i-fell-in-love/ |newspaper=February 11, 2009 |access-date=April 3, 2012}} Welch stated that he did not want more money, nor a more traditional stock package, but instead preferred to retain the lifestyle he had enjoyed as GE's CEO. According to a 2008 interview with Welch, he had filed the agreement with the SEC, and addressed the media attention and accusations of being "greedy" by renouncing those benefits.

In 2012, Welch and his third wife, Suzy Welch, quit their business associations with Fortune magazine and Reuters news service after Fortune published an article which criticized Welch's tweet, shortly before the 2012 election, which alleged that the Obama administration manipulated certain economic statistics, as well as another article which elucidated the 100,000 jobs GE lost during his tenure as CEO.{{Cite web|url=https://fortune.com/2012/10/09/welch-cant-take-the-heat-i-quit/|title=Welch can't take the heat: I quit|website=Fortune}}

Following Welch's retirement from General Electric, he became an adviser to private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and to the chief executive of IAC, Barry Diller.{{cite news |title=Former GE Chief Jack Welch Expects Full Recovery From Discitis |author=Rachel Layne |author2=John Lauerman |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ap3ENxAYX0Ng |work=Bloomberg |date=August 4, 2009 |access-date=May 23, 2012}}{{cite news |title=On the Road With Jack and Suzy |author=Landon Thomas Jr. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/02/business/02welch.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/W/Welch,%20John%20F.%20Jr.?ref=johnfjrwelch&pagewanted=print |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 2, 2006 |access-date=May 23, 2012}} In addition to his consulting and advisory roles, Welch had been active on the public speaking circuit and co-wrote a popular column for BusinessWeek with his wife, Suzy, for four years until November 2009. The column was syndicated by The New York Times.{{cite news |title=Jack Welch ends BusinessWeek column |author=Keith J. Kelly |url=http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/jack_welch_ends_businessweek_column_1HKIsyFQwEOAa2GSYI9GJK |newspaper=New York Post |date=November 13, 2009 |access-date=May 23, 2012}}

In September 2004, the Central Intelligence Agency published a parody of Welch applying his management skills while serving as imagined Deputy Director of Intelligence.{{cite web |title=When Jack Welch Was Deputy Director for Intelligence: Remembering an Imagined DDI|author=Zefram Cochran |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol48no3/article04.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613113240/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol48no3/article04.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 13, 2007 |date=September 2004 |access-date=May 31, 2013}}

In 2005, he published Winning, a book about management co-written with Suzy Welch, which reached No. 1 on The Wall Street Journal bestseller list,{{cite web |url=http://topics.wsj.com/person/W/jack-welch/697# |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090624091921/http://topics.wsj.com/person/w/jack-welch/697 |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 24, 2009 |title=Jack Welch |work=WSJ.com |access-date=May 25, 2012 }} and appeared on New York Times Best Seller list.

On January 25, 2006, Welch gave his name to Sacred Heart University's College of Business, which was known as the "John F. Welch College of Business"{{cite web |url=http://www.sacredheart.edu/pages/12142_sacred_heart_university_names_college_of_business_for_legendary_ge_chairman_jack_welch.cfm |title=Sacred Heart University Names College of Business for Legendary GE Chairman Jack Welch |publisher=Sacredheart.edu |access-date=July 12, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120805223816/http://www.sacredheart.edu/pages/12142_sacred_heart_university_names_college_of_business_for_legendary_ge_chairman_jack_welch.cfm |archive-date=August 5, 2012 }} until 2016, when it began using the name the "Jack Welch College of Business". Since September 2006, Welch had been teaching a class at the MIT Sloan School of Management to a hand-picked group of 30 MBA students with a demonstrated career interest in leadership.{{cite web|url = http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/75e08160-4d6c-11e4-bf60-00144feab7de.html#axzz3xtbNzsCv|title = Jack Welch on the executive MBA he created in his own image|publisher = Mitsloan.mit.edu|date = March 9, 2006|access-date = July 12, 2010}}

In December 2016, Welch joined a business forum assembled by then president-elect Donald Trump to provide strategic and policy advice on economic issues.{{cite news|last1=Bryan|first1=Bob|title=Trump is forming an economic advisory team with the CEOs of Disney, General Motors, JPMorgan, and more|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-strategic-and-policy-forum-includes-dimon-iger-schwarzman-2016-12|access-date=June 1, 2017|publisher=Business Insider|date=December 2, 2016}}

In 2009, Welch founded the Jack Welch Management Institute (JWMI), which is a program at Chancellor University that offered an online executive Master of Business Administration. The institute was acquired by Strayer University in 2011.{{cite news |title=Welch to Move School Out of Chancellor University |author=Melissa Korn |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204358004577030363898873138

|newspaper=Wall Street Journal |date=November 11, 2011 |access-date=March 15, 2012}} Welch had been very actively involved with the curriculum, faculty and students since the beginning of the institution.{{cite news |title=Jack Welch Launches Online MBA |author=Geoff Gloeckler |url=http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/jun2009/bs20090622_962094.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130118170711/http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/jun2009/bs20090622_962094.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 18, 2013 |newspaper=Bloomberg Businessweek |date=June 22, 2009 |access-date=March 15, 2012}}Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/kC2GnO_iPw0 Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20160224042058/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC2GnO_iPw0 Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|title=Jack's Involvement in the Jack Welch MBA | date=May 9, 2014 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC2GnO_iPw0 |publisher=Jack Welch Management Institute |access-date=January 25, 2016}}{{cbignore}} JWMI's MBA program was recently{{when|date=May 2022}} named the number one most influential education brand on Linkedin{{cite web|last1=Haden|first1=Jeff|title=Jack Welch Reveals the 1 Quality Every Great Leader Possesses|url=http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/jack-welch-reveals-the-one-quality-every-great-leader-possesses.html|website=INC.com|access-date=August 12, 2016|date=July 6, 2016}} and one of the top business schools to watch in 2016.{{cite web|last1=SCHMITT|first1=JEFF|title=10 Business Schools To Watch In 2016|url=http://poetsandquants.com/2015/12/16/10-business-schools-to-watch-for-2016/|website=Poets and Quants|access-date=August 12, 2016|date=December 16, 2015}} The program has also been named one of the Top 25 Online MBA Programs four years in a row (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020) by The Princeton Review.{{cite news |title=The Princeton Review Names Jack Welch Management Institute in 2020 List of Top 25 Online MBA Programs (Press Release) |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/press-releases/2019-11-21/the-princeton-review-names-jack-welch-management-institute-in-2020-list-of-top-25-online-mba-programs |access-date=March 2, 2020 |work=Bloomberg |date=November 21, 2019}} Its goal is not to make money, but to build over time focusing on the quality of the program and increasing the number of students enrolled year after year.{{cite web|last1=Gloeckler|first1=Geoff|title=Jack Welch Launches Online MBA|url=http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/jun2009/bs20090622_962094.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130118170711/http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/jun2009/bs20090622_962094.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 18, 2013|website=Bloomberg Businessweeek|publisher=Education Business|access-date=September 24, 2014}}

At GE, Welch became known for his teaching and growing leaders. He had taught at MIT Sloan School of Management and taught seminars to CEOs all over the globe. "More than 35 CEOs at today's top companies [were] trained under Jack Welch".{{cite web|title=Jack Welch Online MBA Program|url=http://jackwelch.strayer.edu/about/jack-welch|website=Strayer University|access-date=September 30, 2014|archive-date=September 25, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140925095836/http://jackwelch.strayer.edu/about/jack-welch|url-status=dead}} JWMI students had direct access to Welch and he hosted quarterly video conferences with his students.

It is known that along with his video conferences, Welch created many video responses to messages on bulletin boards and answered individual emails. His investment in the university was also reflected in his interest in the institute's Net Promoter score (NPS). He administered surveys on satisfaction regularly and scrutinized the results to find scores that needed improvement. In an interview with Wired Academic, Welch explained the overall status of his MBA program, stating that the persistence rate of students continuing on to a second year had grown from 90% to 95%, and that JWMI turns away very few students in the admissions process. He also said that he would like better leadership training for MBA students.{{cite web|last1=Glader|first1=Paul|title=Exclusive: Management Guru Jack Welch Talks About Digital Education, Online MBAs & Modern CEOs With WA.|url=http://www.wiredacademic.com/2011/11/exclusive-management-guru-jack-welch-talks-about-digital-education-online-mbas-modern-ceos-with-wa/|website=wiredacademic|access-date=September 14, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315084409/http://www.wiredacademic.com/2011/11/exclusive-management-guru-jack-welch-talks-about-digital-education-online-mbas-modern-ceos-with-wa/|archive-date=March 15, 2012}}

Welch had four children with his first wife, Carolyn. They divorced amicably in 1987 after 28 years of marriage.{{cite news |title=War of the Welches |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2773481/War-of-the-Welches.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2773481/War-of-the-Welches.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=March 2, 2020 |work=The Telegraph |date=September 14, 2002}}{{cbignore}} His second wife, Jane Beasley, was a former mergers-and-acquisitions lawyer. She married Welch in April 1989, and they divorced in 2003. While Welch had crafted a prenuptial agreement, Beasley insisted on a ten-year time limit to its applicability, and thus she was able to leave the marriage reportedly with around $180 million.{{cite news|last=Bertaccini |first=Donna |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3992381.stm |title=Lovers seek lawyers as divorce booms |publisher=BBC News |date=November 8, 2004 |access-date=July 12, 2010}}

Welch's third wife, Suzy Wetlaufer (née Spring), co-authored his 2005 book Winning as Suzy Welch. She served briefly as the editor-in-chief of the Harvard Business Review. Welch's wife at the time, Jane Beasley, found out about an affair between Wetlaufer and Welch. Beasley informed the Review and Wetlaufer was forced to resign in early 2002 after admitting to the affair with Welch while preparing an interview with him for the magazine.{{cite web|last1=Kolhatkar|first1=Sheelah|title=Suzy Wetlaufer Preparing To Be 'Neutron Jackie'|website=The New York Observer|url=https://observer.com/2004/04/suzy-wetlaufer-preparing-to-be-neutron-jackie/|date=April 19, 2004|access-date=November 8, 2014}} They married on April 24, 2004.{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/SuzyWelch/status/1121035052702478337|title=Fifteen years ago today. We still do! pic.twitter.com/lsMThTPRqM|first=Suzy|last=Welch|date=April 24, 2019}}

Starting in January 2012, Welch and Suzy Welch wrote a biweekly column for Reuters and Fortune,{{cite news |title=Jack Welch: The GOP Needs To Be Nice To Ron Paul When He Drops Out Because They Need His Followers |author=Jon Bershad |url=http://www.mediaite.com/online/jack-welch-the-gop-needs-to-be-nice-to-ron-paul-when-he-drops-out-because-they-need-his-followers/ |work=Mediaite |date=January 27, 2012 |access-date=May 23, 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://www.womeninecon.wsj.com/index.php/speakers/jack-welch |title=John F. Welch |date=April 30 – May 2, 2012 |work=Women in the Economy: An Executive Task Force |publisher=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=May 25, 2012}} which they both left on October 9, 2012, after an article critical of Welch and his GE career was published by Fortune.{{cite news |title=Jack Welch Takes His Column and Goes Home |author=Tim Sprinkle |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exchange/jack-welch-takes-column-goes-home-181843415.html |newspaper=Yahoo! News |date=October 9, 2012 |access-date=October 9, 2012}}

Welch died from kidney failure at his home in New York City{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/business/jack-welch-died.html|title = Jack Welch, G.E. Chief Who Became a Business Superstar, Dies at 84|work = The New York Times|last = Lohr|first = Steve|date = March 2, 2020|access-date = March 2, 2020}} on March 1, 2020, at age 84.{{cite news |title=Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO of GE, dies at 84 |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/02/jack-welch-obit-ge.html |access-date=March 2, 2020 |work=CNBC |date=March 2, 2020 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Gryta |first1=Thomas |title=Jack Welch, Legendary CEO of General Electric, Dies at Age 84 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/jack-welch-legendary-ceo-of-general-electric-dies-at-age-84-11583158270?mod=djemalertNEWS |access-date=March 2, 2020 |publisher=The Wall Street Journal |date=March 2, 2020}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/03/02/business/bc-us-obit-jack-welch.html|title=Jack Welch, the GE Chief Who Became a Superstar, Has Died|date=March 2, 2020|agency=Associated Press|work = The New York Times|access-date=March 2, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/03/02/jack-welch-obituary-ge-jack-welch-dies-dead/4927479002/ |title=Jack Welch, former General Electric CEO who built company into a powerhouse, has died |first1=Nathan |last1=Bomey |newspaper=USA Today|date=March 2, 2020 |pages=B1-2|access-date=March 2, 2020}}

Welch identified politically as a Republican.{{cite web|last1=Kimball|first1=Joe|title=Former GE Chairman Jack Welch on CNN says he likes Pawlenty|url=http://www.minnpost.com/minnpotus/2011/06/former-ge-chairman-jack-welch-cnn-says-he-likes-pawlenty|date=June 9, 2011|access-date=September 25, 2014}} He stated that global warming is "the attack on capitalism that socialism couldn't bring", and that it is a form of "mass neurosis".MSNBC: Morning Joe. July 2, 2008. Yet he said that every business must embrace green products and green ways of doing business, "whether you believe in global warming or not ... because the world wants these products".{{cite web|url=http://www.freshdialogues.com/2009/05/12/jack-welch-why-companies-must-go-green/ |title=Fresh Dialogues Interview with Alison van Diggelen, May 2009 |publisher=Freshdialogues.com |date=May 12, 2009 |access-date=July 12, 2010}}

Regarding shareholder value, Welch said in a Financial Times interview on the 2008 financial crisis, "On the face of it, shareholder value is the dumbest idea in the world. Shareholder value is a result, not a strategy...your main constituencies are your employees, your customers and your products."{{cite news | last = Guerrera | first = Francesco | title = Welch rues short-term profit 'obsession' | publisher = Financial Times | date = March 12, 2009 | url = http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/294ff1f2-0f27-11de-ba10-0000779fd2ac.html | access-date = March 12, 2009}}

Welch was widely criticized for his views on the job numbers from September 2012.{{cite news|last1=Schlesinger|first1=Jill|title=Is Neutron Jack Welch not so tough after all?|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/is-neutron-jack-welch-not-so-tough-after-all/|access-date=September 25, 2014|agency=CBSNews|date=October 9, 2012}}

After the Bureau of Labor Statistics released employment data stating that the U.S. unemployment rate had dropped from 8.1% to 7.8%, Welch tweeted, "Unbelievable jobs numbers ... these Chicago guys will do anything ... can't debate so change numbers".{{cite web|last=Malone|first=Scott|title=Jack Welch sets Twitter ablaze with Obama job jab|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/sns-rt-us-usa-economy-jackwelchbre8941cr-20121005,0,7390466.story|publisher=Chicago Tribune|access-date=October 6, 2012}} Welch stood by his tweet, stating if he could write it again, he would add question marks at the end to make it clear that his intention was to raise a question over the legitimacy of the numbers.{{cite news|last1=Welch|first1=Jack|title=I Was Right About That Strange Jobs Report|url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390444897304578046260406091012|access-date=September 14, 2014|date=October 11, 2014}} A subsequent New York Post article on the employment data suggested manipulation of some of the survey responses by an individual employee in 2010,{{Cite web|url=https://nypost.com/2013/11/18/census-faked-2012-election-jobs-report/|title=Census 'faked' 2012 election jobs report|last=Crudele|first=John|date=November 19, 2013|website=New York Post|access-date=August 31, 2017}} but that article was widely debunked, including the fact that the employee had not worked at the Bureau since 2011.[http://archives.cjr.org/the_audit/bogus_new_york_post_story_census.php A bogus NY Post piece sets off a frenzy] Ryan Chittum. Columbia Journalism Review. November 22, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2017[https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2013/11/19/five-questions-about-the-new-york-posts-unemployment-story/ Five questions about the New York Post's unemployment story] Eric Wemple. Washington Post. November 19, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2017[http://www.businessinsider.com/ny-post-election-jobs-numbers-bls-obama-census-julius-buckmon-2013-11 Key Source In New York Post's Story About Unemployment Rate Rigging Left Census Bureau In 2011] Brett LoGiurato. Business Insider. November 19, 2013. Retrieved September 1, 2017 No proof of the political manipulation of the job numbers from September 2012 has been presented.{{Cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/19/unemployment-rate-faked_n_4302907.html|title=No, Obama Did Not Fake The Unemployment Rate|last=Gongloff|first=Mark|date=November 19, 2013|work=Huffington Post|access-date=August 31, 2017|language=en-US}} The Census Bureau later released a statement denying the possibility of systematic manipulation of the data.{{Cite news|url=https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2013/cb13-195.html|title=Census Bureau Statement on Collection of Survey Data|work=The United States Census Bureau|access-date=August 31, 2017|language=en-US}} Still, in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, Welch wrote that the debate led to people looking at unemployment data more carefully and skeptically. Referencing his original tweet, he stated "Thank God I did", in a Squawk Box appearance, and also wrote, "The coming election is too important to be decided on a number. Especially when that number seems so wrong".{{cite web|last1=Bradford|first1=Harry|title=Jack Welch On CNBC: 'Thank God' I Questioned The Jobs Numbers (VIDEO)|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/05/jack-welch-cnbc_n_2076203.html|newspaper=Huffington Post|date=November 5, 2012|access-date=September 14, 2014}}

Welch has been described as "perhaps the most celebrated American boss of recent decades".{{cite news|title= Should Jamie Dimon, Wall Street's most celebrated boss, call it a day?|url= https://www.economist.com/leaders/2020/03/14/should-jamie-dimon-wall-streets-most-celebrated-boss-call-it-a-day|newspaper=The Economist|date=March 14, 2020}}

Yet by Wall Street measures, a $100,000 investment in GE shares in the year 2000 (near the end of Welch's tenure) had lost about 80 percent of its value as of the year 2021.{{Cite web|url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/11/boeing-737-max-flying-blind-peter-robison.html|title = How Shareholder Capitalism Crashed a Plane (Two, Actually)|date = November 30, 2021}}

Despite this trend, in a 2015 article in Harvard Business Review, business consultant Ron Ashkenas argues that "Jack Welch's approach to breaking down silos still works", citing examples of engineering companies who have discovered for themselves that "fragmented, geographically dispersed" patterns of organization make it "very difficult ... to coordinate efforts across functions, keep everyone focused on the cost and delivery goals and get people to reach consensus".Ashkenas, R., [https://hbr.org/2015/09/jack-welchs-approach-to-breaking-down-silos-still-works Jack Welch’s Approach to Breaking Down Silos Still Works], Harvard Business Review, published 9 September 2020, accesses 19 November 2020

Welch has been criticized for practices that have harmed workers and the company: he eliminated thousands of jobs at GE, contributing to a reduction of the U.S. manufacturing base. He eliminated 10% of employees every year, a practice adopted by many other companies. He was a leading proponent of mergers and acquisitions, helping to give rise to an economy that is more concentrated and less dynamic. He pioneered "financialization", changing GE from a manufacturing company into, effectively, an unregulated bank, which harmed GE over the long term.{{Cite news |last=Andersen |first=Kurt |date=June 2, 2022 |title=How Jack Welch Revolutionized the American Economy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/02/books/review/the-man-who-broke-capitalism-david-gelles.html |department=Books |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 2, 2022}}

As of late 2021, General Electric planned to break into three public companies and effectively cease to exist. The companies would separately operate in the aviation, health care and energy markets.{{Cite web |title=GE to end its run as a conglomerate, split into 3 companies |url=https://apnews.com/article/business-0efa0e45cba17ec5e51011b83bdd52f1 |publisher=Associated Press |date=November 9, 2021}} As of 2021, GE was headed by H. Lawrence Culp Jr. who was named in 2018 as its fourth CEO since Welch's departure.

Welch's practices and legacy were criticized as a bad influence on corporate America and ultimately self-destructive for GE and the U.S. economy by author David Gelles in his 2022 book The Man Who Broke Capitalism: How Jack Welch Gutted the Heartland and Crushed the Soul of Corporate America―and How to Undo His Legacy.{{Cite book |last=Gelles |first=David |author-link=David Gelles |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/on1302899162 |title=The Man Who Broke Capitalism: How Jack Welch Gutted the Heartland and Crushed the Soul of Corporate America―and How to Undo His Legacy |date=May 31, 2022 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-1-9821-7644-0 |location=New York |oclc=on1302899162}}{{Cite web |last=Hill |first=Andrew |date=June 8, 2022 |title=The Man Who Broke Capitalism — did Jack Welch destroy corporate America? |url=https://www.ft.com/content/3f1ac0e6-f204-478d-8b64-54a699a12518 |url-access= |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=Financial Times}}

On March 11, 2010, Welch cameoed as himself in the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, appearing in the season four episode "Future Husband". In the episode, Welch confronts Alec Baldwin's character, Jack Donaghy, to confirm the sale of NBC Universal to a fictional Philadelphia-based cable company called Kabletown. The sale is a satirical reference to the real-world acquisition of NBCUniversal from General Electric by Comcast in November 2009.{{cite news |last1=Sorkin |first1=Andrew Ross |title=The NBC Sale (the '30 Rock' Version) |url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/the-n-b-c-sale-the-30-rock-version/ |access-date=March 2, 2020 |department=DealBook |work=The New York Times |date=March 12, 2010 |language=en}}

• Welch, Jack and John A. Byrne. Jack: Straight from the Gut. New York: Warner Business Books, 2001. {{ISBN|0-446-69068-6}}
• Welch, Jack and Suzy Welch. Winning. HarperCollins, 2005. {{ISBN|0-06-075394-3}}
• Welch, Jack and Suzy Welch. Winning: The Answers. Harper, 2006. {{ISBN|0-00-725264-1}}

• Shareholder value, 1981 speech at The Pierre hotel.
• Shareholder primacy
• Vitality curve

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book |last=Gelles |first=David |year=2022 |title=The Man Who Broke Capitalism: How Jack Welch Gutted the Heartland and Crushed the Soul of Corporate America―and How to Undo His Legacy |location=New York |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=9781982176440 |oclc=1302899162}}
• {{Cite book |last=Lane |first=Bill |year=2008 |title=Jacked Up: The Inside Story of how Jack Welch Talked GE into Becoming the World's Greatest Company |location=New York |publisher=McGraw Hill |isbn=978-0-07-154410-8 |oclc=611932209}}
• {{Cite book |last=O'Boyle |first=Thomas F. |year=1999 |title=At Any Cost: Jack Welch, General Electric, and the Pursuit of Profit |location=New York |publisher=Vintage Books |isbn=0-375-70567-8 |oclc=924507503}}
• {{Cite book |last=Slater |first=Robert |authorlink=Robert Slater |year=1998 |title=Jack Welch and the GE Way: Management Insights and Leadership Secrets of the Legendary CEO |location=New York |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=0-07-058104-5 |oclc=880416549}}
• {{Cite book |last=Slater |first=Robert |year=1992 |title=The New GE: How Jack Welch Revived an American Institution |location=New York |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=9781556236709}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Tichy |first1=Noel |author2=Strat Sherman |year=1993 |title=Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will: How Jack Welch Is Making General Electric the World's Most Competitive Company |location=New York |publisher=Doubleday |isbn=9780385248839 |oclc=605932283}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• {{IMDb name|1653933}}
• {{C-SPAN|32615}}

{{S-start}}

{{S-bus}}

{{Succession box

| title = Chairman & CEO of General Electric

| before= Reginald H. Jones

| after= Jeff Immelt

| years=1981–2001}}

{{S-end}}

{{CEOs of General Electric}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Welch, Jack}}

Category:1935 births

Category:2020 deaths

Category:20th-century American businesspeople

Category:21st-century American businesspeople

Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers

Category:American business writers

Category:American chairpersons of corporations

Category:American chemical engineers

Category:American chief executives of Fortune 500 companies

Category:American columnists

Category:American corporate directors

Category:American manufacturing businesspeople

Category:American people of Irish descent

Category:Businesspeople from Massachusetts

Category:Deaths from kidney failure in New York (state)

Category:General Electric chief executive officers

Category:Grainger College of Engineering alumni

Category:Fortune (magazine) people

Category:Massachusetts Republicans

Category:MIT Sloan School of Management faculty

Category:People from Peabody, Massachusetts

Category:Philanthropists from Massachusetts

Category:PPG Industries people

Category:Reuters

Category:Salem High School (Massachusetts) alumni

Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Engineering alumni

Category:Writers from Boston

Category:Writers from Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Category:American Roman Catholics

Category:Catholics from Massachusetts