Trading Houses & Industrial Giants · Industrial titans
General Electric
From Edison's 1892 merger to the world's most valuable company in 2000 and a three-way breakup in 2024: research labs, Welch's 'No. 1 or No. 2', GE Capital's hidden leverage, and the lessons.
Step 1 of 5 · Overview25 min read ·
Key idea
Prereqs: Edison; Conglomerates. Next: Berkshire Hathaway (contrast); Business cycles & corporate survival. Sources: Thomas Gryta & Ted Mann, *Lights Out: Pride, Delusion, and the Fall of General Electric* (2020); David Gelles, *The Man Who Broke Capitalism* (2022).Next: 1. Timeline