About the book
Two reporters from the Wall Street Journal, Thomas Gryta and Ted Mann, document the decline of General Electric, from the Jack Welch years to the appointment of Larry Culp as CEO in 2018, the first outsider to hold the job. They place most of the blame on Jeff Immelt, arguing that his decisions, not bad timing, caused the slide. They describe accounting practices that made GE look healthier than it was, such as selling an asset to a bank to inflate profits knowing GE could repurchase it later, and problems hidden to please investors until they grew large. The authors also cover the effects of the September 11 attacks and the 2008 financial crisis, and Welch's criticism of Immelt.
Bill Gates said he had spent several years wondering how a company of GE's size and success could fail, and that the book finally answered much of that question for him.
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This book has 1 recommendation
Bill Gates (Founder / Microsoft)
How could a company as big and successful as GE fail? I’ve been thinking about that question for several years, and Lights Out finally gave me many of the answers I was seeking.
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