Trey talks to New York Times bestselling author William Cohan about GE's history, including founder Thomas Edison, Jack Welch's controversial career & successes, Warren Buffett's investment on GE, and much more!
William Cohan's latest book, titled "Power Failure: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon," chronicles the incredible history of General Electric, which was often the largest and most esteemed company in the world over its 130-year existence.
IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:
0:00 - Intro
07:31 - The origin story of GE, starting with founder Thomas Edison with backing from JP Morgan.
11:19 - Why Charlie Coffin might be the best CEO of all time.
23:54 - The dark side of Jack Welch and his career at GE, as well as the many successes.
56:37 - How Jeff could have saved the company by listening to Bill Gross and Jim Grant.
59:55 The debate on whether Jack handed his successor, Jeff Immelt, a “royal flush” or an open grenade.
63:49 - Warren Buffett’s bet on the company.
63:15 - Why the company has now been deconstructed into 3 separate entities.
67:18 - The many cycles that repeated over its 130 year history.
Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences.
BOOKS AND RESOURCES
- Visit William Cohan website.
- Check out Power Failure book.
- Check out GE website.
- Trey Lockerbie's Twitter.
- William Cohan's Twitter.
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