Investors Edge: GE spinoffs look to have bright futures. [Video]

“Change before you have to” – Jack Welch, GE CEO 1981 – 2001

General Electric, founded by Thomas Edison in 1892, was once the most iconic business in American history. An original member of the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average, GE’s stock reached a $600 billion market cap in 2000, 24 long years ago.

It would never reach that level again.

Poor management, SEC accounting probes, and the Great Recession tanked GE’s stock price. Despite 15+ years of multiple attempts at restructuring, selling off divisions, and even slashing its dividend in half, GE continued to flounder. The stock was unceremoniously booted from the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 2018.

After more than 125 years in business, the old General Electric needed to change – and fast. In November 2021, GE announced plans to split into three public companies: medical devices (GE HealthCare), aviation (GE Aerospace), and power generation (GE Verona). The company broke into two in 2022 …