Jeff Immelt To Step Down As General Electric CEO

BOSTON, MA – General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt will retire at the end of the year, the company announced Monday. Immelt, who has served as chairman and chief executive of GE for 16 years, will be succeeded by GE Healthcare President and CEO John Flannery.

Flannery, 55, will assume the role of CEO of the Boston-based company Aug. 1 and add the role of chairman on Jan. 1, 2018. Immelt, 61, will remain chairman until he retires on Dec. 31.

"During this time of dynamic global markets and relentless focus on technology and operational excellence, there is no better person to lead GE than John Flannery," Jack Brennan, the company’s lead independent director, said in a release. "He brings unique experience and a strong skill set to the job. John has spent almost half of his career living outside of the United States and has led complex financial and industrial businesses all over the world, including running GE Healthcare, GE in India and the business development team for GE through the successful acquisition of Alstom."

The company is moving to Boston after city and state officials lured it here with a substantial incentive package.

Flannery began his career at GE Capital in 1987, where he evaluated risk for leveraged buy-outs. After 10 years, he moved to Argentina where he helmed GE's Equity business in Latin America and the overall GE Capital business for Argentina and Chile. He was named president and CEO of GE Equity in 2002 and spent much of that decade developing the company's Asia earnings.

In 2013, he was named head of business development at GE Corporate. He joined GE Healthcare the following year.

"John is the right person to lead GE today," Immelt said in a statement. "He has broad experience across multiple businesses, cycles and geographies. He has a track record of success and led one of our most essential businesses. Most important are his strong leadership traits - good judgment, resilience, a learner, team builder and a tough-minded individual and competitor."

Monday's announcement is the culmination of a succession plan that has been in the works since 2011, GE said in a release. In addition to Flannery, CFO Jeff Bornstein has been promoted to vice chair of GE.

"Today’s announcement is the greatest honor of my career," Flannery said in a statement. "I am privileged to have spent the last 16 years at the company working for Jeff, one of the greatest business leaders of our time."

Since taking over as head of General Electric in 2001, Immelt has navigated the company through a portfolio transformation, the September 11 tragedy, the power and pension bubbles, the financial crisis and oil price dynamics. During that time, GE nearly doubled its industrial profit and returned $143 billion to investors in dividends, more than in the entire prior history of the company.

Immelt led the company's transformation into a digital industrial portfolio focused on the power, aviation, transportation, health care and oil and gas markets.

"Jeff has positioned the company incredibly well for the future," Brennan said in a release. "He executed a massive portfolio transformation and navigated the company through economic cycles and business disruptions. Today, GE is a high-tech industrial company with a bright future."

AP Photo/Michael Dwyer