Power Failure: The downfall of General Electric

Power Failure by William Cohan chronicles the spectacular collapse of General Electric, once America's most valuable company. From a $600 billion giant to near-bankruptcy, GE's downfall reveals how financialization and imperial CEOs destroyed a 130-year industrial icon. Founded by Edison to bring electric light to the world, General Electric became America's most valuable company by 2001 before losing 90% of its value in one of corporate history's greatest collapses. William Cohan's Power Failure transforms this collapse into a Shakespearean tragedy about corporate culture and American capitalism. From Edison's first light bulbs to Jeff Immelt's desperate final days, Cohan shows how the company that literally illuminated America became "a huge unregulated bank with a light-bulb logo." The result is equal parts invention history, boardroom knife-fight, and forensic accounting thriller. Here are my favorite ideas of this 700-page tome. 1. The Cult of the Imperial CEO GE didn't just ... Read full article.