Transcript
Introduction
Matt
This is Matt Reustle, and today we are breaking down the historic General Electric. Honestly, approaching this episode was a unique challenge. Today's GE barely resembles what was once the largest company in the world. So rather than purely focus on what's remaining, we decided to use a lens of then versus now. To breakdown General Electric, I was joined by Josh Aguilar, GE Analyst at Morningstar and enthusiast on all things capital allocation. It's a theme we revisit throughout the conversation on GE's time as a conglomerate and its rise and fall. The story of GE has many chapters. The origin dates back to Thomas Edison in 1896. And while GE has been classified as an industrial business for a very long time, it really is hard to overlook the technological breakthroughs that they've introduced.
The incandescent light bulb, the x-ray machine, the electric locomotive and commercial jet engine, the business really has had no shortage of historic products. But when Jack Welch took over in 1981, he implemented a playbook that brought GE much praise over the coming decades. And Josh and I focused our conversation on the end of Welch's era until the present day. Now, if you'd like to hear more on the early years of General Electric and particularly Thomas Edison, make sure to check out our newest Colossus teammate, David Senra, and his podcast, Founders. David conveniently dropped a new episode on Edison this week. And after my conversation, you'll hear a preview of that episode. So stay tuned for that after my conversation with Josh. Please enjoy this breakdown of General Electric.