General Electric, whose innovations range from x-ray machines and fluorescent lights to television broadcasting, on Tuesday announced plans to split into three public companies. Here is a timeline of key events in GE history:

** In 1890, Thomas Alva Edison, inventor of the light bulb, created the Edison General Electric Co, which later merged with a rival to form the General Electric Co. ** In 1896, GE became one of 12 companies listed on the newly formed Dow Jones Industrial Average.

** In 1941, GE built the first American jet engine, the AI, which was used the following year to power the first American jet aircraft for military use. Eventually 100,000 GE turbochargers were used by the US military in airplanes during World War II. ** In 1957, GE supplied electricity to nearly 120,000 customers from the world’s first commercial nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania.

** Jack Welch took over as GE in 1981 and led the company for over 20 years. Welch renamed the company “GE”. He passed away in 2020. ** Jeffrey Immelt took over the reins of GE on September 7, 2001, days before the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington triggered a long recession in the key aviation market.

** Immelt resigned https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ge-ceo-flannery-idUSKBN1931W3 as CEO after 16 years and was replaced by GE Healthcare Unit Head John Flannery in August 2017. ** The company gets pulled out of the Dow Jones index in June 2018.

** Flannery was ousted https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ge-ceo-idUSKCN1MB2CY in October 2018 due to the slow turnaround of GE and a massive $ 23 billion depreciation in its electricity division. He was replaced by Larry Culp. ** In October 2018, Culp took his first step https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ge-results-idUSKCN1N41BJ to revive the conglomerate by reducing its dividend from 12 cents to a cent to preserve cash.

** GE, in January 2019, announced that it would combine https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ge-renewable-energy-idUSKCN1PO1QP its battery and grid storage units in its wind operations and hydropower to reduce costs. ** A month later, GE said https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ge-divestiture-danaher-idUSKCN1QE1GY that it planned to divest its biopharmaceutical business to Danaher Corp for $ 21.4 billion as part of the biggest strategy reversal under Culp.

** As a sign that Culp’s turnaround strategy was working, GE lifted https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ge-results-idUSKCN1UQ19S its annual profit forecast in July 2019 and said it could generate up to $ 1 billion in free cash flow. ** A year later, the COVID-19 pandemic hit GE’s finances https://www.reuters.com/article/us-general-electric-results-idUSKCN24U1JT, resulting in a larger than expected quarterly loss in 2020. Its aviation business, the most profitable and cash-generating business segment, saw the largest drop in sales and orders.

** In March 2021, Culp presented plans to sell GE’s leasing business to Ireland’s AerCap in a deal worth more than $ 30 billion, with the aim of reducing debt and focus on GE’s industrial core in energy, renewable energy, aviation and healthcare. ** On November 9, Culp ends the era of GE’s conglomerates with a plan to split it into three public companies that would focus on energy, healthcare and aviation.

Source: – company website, Reuters articles, regulatory documents

(This story was not edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)