For more than a century, General Electric (GE) transformed one industry after another. The company that is synonymous with electricity also made the jet engines for Air Force One and produced the hit TV show Friends. In 1981, Jack Welch became GE’s new CEO. Recognising that globalisation had exposed American companies to fierce competition from abroad, Welch was determined to make GE the most competitive enterprise on Earth. He eliminated bureaucracy, slashed jobs, encouraged innovation, and implemented strict performance evaluation. The outcome was remarkable. During Welch’s twenty years as CEO, net income increased eightfold, making GE the most valuable company in the world. Yet Welch’s legacy didn’t stand the test of time. Obsessed with quarterly earnings, Welch was drawn to GE Capital, whose ability to create profits through accounting adjustments helped GE manage the fluctuations of its manufacturing businesses. By 2000, GE Capital accounted for over 40 per cent of the company’s profits, but its reliance on short-term funding almost bankrupted GE during the Global Financial Crisis. By the early 2020s, GE’s market capitalisation had fallen 80 per cent from its peak, and the iconic American conglomerate was finally broken up into three separate companies.