General Electric

General Electric (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in New York. As of 2015, the company operates through the following segments: Appliances, Power and Water, Oil and Gas, Energy Management, Aviation, Healthcare, Transportation and Capital which cater to the needs of Home Appliances, Financial services, Medical device, Life Sciences, Pharmaceutical, Automotive, Software Development and Engineering industries.

In 2011, GE ranked among the Fortune 500 as the 26th-largest firm in the U.S. by gross revenue,and the 14th most profitable. As of 2012 the company was listed the fourth-largest in the world among the Forbes Global 2000, further metrics being taken into account. The Nobel Prize has twice been awarded to employees of General Electric: Irving Langmuir in 1932 and Ivar Giaever in 1973.

Contents

    1 History
        1.1 Formation
        1.2 Public company
        1.3 RCA
        1.4 Television
        1.5 Power generation
        1.6 Computing
        1.7 Acquisitions and Divestments
    2 Stock
    3 Corporate affairs
        3.1 CEO
        3.2 Businesses
        3.3 Corporate recognition and rankings
    4 Controversies and criticism
    5 Environmental record
        5.1 Pollution
            5.1.1 Pollution of the Hudson River
        5.2 Environmental initiatives
    6 Educational initiatives
    7 Content-marketing campaign
    8 Legal issues
    9 Political affiliation
    10 Notable appearances in media
    11 See also
    12 References
    13 Further reading
    14 External links

History
Further information: General Electric timeline
Formation
General Electric in Schenectady, NY, aerial view, 1896
Plan of Schenectady plant, 1896

During 1889, Thomas Edison had business interests in many electricity-related companies: Edison Lamp Company, a lamp manufacturer in East Newark, New Jersey; Edison Machine Works, a manufacturer of dynamos and large electric motors in Schenectady, New York; Bergmann & Company, a manufacturer of electric lighting fixtures, sockets, and other electric lighting devices; and Edison Electric Light Company, the patent-holding company and the financial arm backed by J.P. Morgan and the Vanderbilt family for Edison's lighting experiments. In 1889, Drexel, Morgan & Co., a company founded by J.P. Morgan and Anthony J. Drexel, financed Edison's research and helped merge those companies under one corporation to form Edison General Electric Company which was incorporated in New York on April 24, 1889. The new company also acquired Sprague Electric Railway & Motor Company in the same year.

At about the same time, Charles Coffin, leading the Thomson-Houston Electric Company, acquired a number of competitors and gained access to their key patents. General Electric was formed through the 1892 merger of Edison General Electric Company of Schenectady, New York, and Thomson-Houston Electric Company of Lynn, Massachusetts, with the support of Drexel, Morgan & Co. Both plants continue to operate under the GE banner to this day. The company was incorporated in New York, with the Schenectady plant used as headquarters for many years thereafter. Around the same time, General Electric's Canadian counterpart, Canadian General Electric, was formed.
Public company

In 1896, General Electric was one of the original 12 companies listed on the newly formed Dow Jones Industrial Average. After 119 years, it is the only one of the original companies still listed on the Dow index, although it has not been on the index continuously.
A 23-ton diesel-electric locomotive made at the General Electric Corp. plant in Schenectady, New York

In 1911, General Electric absorbed the National Electric Lamp Association (NELA) into its lighting business. GE established its lighting division headquarters at Nela Park in East Cleveland, Ohio. Nela Park is still the headquarters for GE's lighting business.