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The Boardroom Journal



Forgive Us Our Trespasses...

April 17, 2008 at 12:58 PM 

ET TU, JACK?

 

The ‘screw up’ heard round the world was a vintage Welchism – hardcore audacity from the man who loves to tell it like it is whether the listener is a journalist, shareholder or regulator. He has since offered a public apology on BusinessWeek.com which should put the matter to rest.

 

Nonetheless, I was surprised the limelight would fog Jack's ordinarily street smart savvy that he is so well known for. Even the sorely tested among us can get weak kneed when the mike is pushed into our face. And then the words pour forth like a demagogue at a rally. So even the greatest CEO of our time found it too tempting to give utterance to the boardroom equivalent of trash talk. But still surprsing....

 

Particularly when he so resented the bum’s rush himself. Try to recall GE’s acquisition of Kidder Peabody for $600 million (which ultimately cost the company over $1 billion) and ended up as the poster child of financial supermarket hysteria, and after a long scuffle with both regulators (does the name Joe Jett ring a bell?) and Wall Street was sold at a bargain price to Paine Webber (UBS).

 

But Welch was mortified that GE was accused of falling when it had only stumbled. Forbes wrote a trenchant article clarifying this and Jack called me personally to thank me (I was publisher at the time) for pointing out the obvious.

 

So I will do so again: Immelt’s miss was the result of changes in the economic landscape that no one has been able to ascertain; GE and Immelt will not only figure it out but when they do, will benefit  mightily.



Tags: jack welch (6) jeff immelt (5) ge (6) ubs (22) joe jett (3) earnings (5) media (6) forbes (7) shareholders (104) (252)

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