Jeffrey R. Immelt
| Jeffrey R. Immelt | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Electric | |
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Assumed office September 7, 2001 |
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| Preceded by | Jack Welch |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Jeffrey Robert Immelt February 19, 1956 Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Andrea Immelt |
| Children | Sarah |
| Alma mater |
Dartmouth College Harvard University |
Jeffrey Robert "Jeff" Immelt (born February 19, 1956) is an American business executive. He is currently the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the U.S.-based conglomerate General Electric. He was selected as GE's CEO by their Board of Directors in 2000 to replace Jack Welch upon Welch's retirement from GE. Previously, Immelt had headed up GE's Medical Systems division (now known as GE Healthcare) as its President and CEO.
Immelt was born in Cincinnati, the son of Donna Rosemary (née Wallace), a school teacher, and Joseph Francis Immelt, who managed the General Electric Aircraft Engines Division ("GEAE" is now known as GE Aviation).
Immelt attended Finneytown High School; he played football in college and was an offensive tackle. from Dartmouth College graduating with the class of 1978; he currently serves on the Dartmouth board of trustees and was president of his fraternity, Phi Delta Alpha.
During his years at Dartmouth he worked summers on a Ford assembly line in Cincinnati; after graduating he worked for Procter and Gamble before matriculating at Harvard for his MBA.
Immelt earned his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, graduating in 1982. He described "business school [as] one of the most intense times of your life."
Immelt has been with GE since 1982, when he graduated from Harvard with his MBA. He held a number of increasingly senior positions in GE's plastics, appliances, and healthcare businesses. He became a GE officer in 1989, joined the GE Capital board in 1997 and took on the leadership of GE Healthcare before being named CEO.
The competition for the CEO position that Immelt won began when Jack Welch asked Gary Wendt, the head of GE Financial Services, Inc, then a $41 billion empire and GE's most profitable division, to resign, on the theory that he would overshadow Welch's other candidates. Immelt surpassed Robert Nardelli, who was so close to Welch that his nickname was "Little Jack", and James McNerney; Nardelli would leave GE to head Home Depot and then Chrysler, and McNerney left GE to lead 3M (before going on to lead Boeing). Immelt was selected by the GE Board in November, 2000, to succeed Welch as CEO of GE; he served as GE's President and Chairman-elect for ten months before taking the position of Chairman and CEO of GE on September 7, 2001.
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