General Electric timeline

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General Electric has a long history, involving many mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures.

1876-1950


Date Event
1876 Thomas Edison opens a new laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey, USA
1879 Thomson-Houston formed
1890 Four companies holding Edison's various interests merge as Edison General Electric Company
1892 Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston merge to become The General Electric Company, with Charles A. Coffin as first president
1893 Compagnie Française Thomson-Houston, a sister company to General Electric which would become Thomson SA, formed in Paris
1896 General Electric made a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average
1905 The Electric Bond and Share Co., the forerunner of GE Commercial Finance is formed, with the goal of providing financing to small utility companies[1]
1911 National Electric Lamp Association (NELA) is absorbed into General Electric's existing lighting business and GE establishes its lighting division headquarters at Nela Park, the world's first industrial park, in East Cleveland, Ohio
1912 General Electric begins using phenolic resins to mold plastic parts[1]
1913 Charles A. Coffin becomes the first Chairman of General Electric
1913 Edwin Rice becomes President, replacing Charles A. Coffin
1918 Trumbull Electric Company, headquartered in Plainville, Connecticut, is acquired. Trumbull Electric Manufactory Co. produced electrical supply parts including porcelain fixtures, switchboards and panels.[2]
1919 Radio Corporation of America (RCA) formed by General Electric and American Telephone & Telegraph
1922 Owen Young becomes Chairman, replacing Charles A. Coffin
1930 General Electric creates its Plastics Department to research and produce advanced plastics[1]
1932 GE Credit Corporation, which evolves into GE Consumer Finance, is founded to allow families to purchase General Electric appliances on credit[1]
1935 General Electric markets the first electric garbage disposal, the Disposall[1]
1940 Philip D. Reed replaces Owen Young as Chairman
1942 Owen Young returns as Chairman, replacing Philip D. Reed
1942 General Electric develops the first American jet engine
1945 Philip D. Reed becomes Chairman, replacing Owen Young
1949 GE Armament Division test-fires the M61 Vulcan rotary cannon

1950-2000


Date Event
1952 General Electric acquires Ken-Rad Tube Manufacturing Corporation, headquartered in Owensboro, Kentucky and designates the Ken-Rad's plants located in Owensboro and Bowling Green, Kentucky, Tell City and Huntingburg, Indiana as its primary vacuum tube manufacturing facilities
1953 Lexan accidentally developed by a GE Plastics scientist while searching for a new wire coating[1]
1955 GE Research Laboratory announces the ability to create the first artificial diamonds, primarily for industrial use[1]
1958 Ralph J. Cordiner becomes Chairman & CEO, replacing Philip D. Reed
1962 General Electric scientist Bob Hall invents the solid state laser[1]
1963 Gerald L. Phillippe becomes Chairman, replacing Ralph J. Cordiner
1964 General Electric sponsors Carousel of Progress at the 1964 New York World's Fair and continues sponsorship after it is moved to Disneyland from 1967 to 1973, then to Magic Kingdom (1975–1985)
1967 Fred J. Borch becomes Chairman & CEO, replacing Gerald L. Phillippe
1970 Computer systems division sold to Honeywell
1971 CFM International is formed with partner SNECMA for the purpose of producing medium-sized civil turbofan[1]
1972 Reginald Jones becomes Chairman and CEO, replacing Fred J. Borch
1981 Jack Welch whose management style would leave a lasting effect upon General Electric and corporate America, replaces Reginald Jones as CEO
1982 CFM International's CFM56 is introduced; The CFM56 would go on to dominate the engine market for short haul airliner[1]
1983 General Electric begins sponsoring Horizons at EPCOT Center which ends in 1993
1984 GE spins off its commercial computer graphics products and services Genigraphics Operation to the Genigraphics Corporation
1985 GEnie, one of the pioneering online services, was developed using extra processor cycles on General Electric Information Services mainframes
1986 General Electric re-acquires RCA, primarily for the NBC television network and sells the remaining components to Thomson—along with General Electric's consumer electronics division— and Bertelsmann
1988 General Electric begins sponsorship of IllumiNations, a series of fireworks displays, at EPCOT Center which continues until 1998
1989 The Consumer News and Business Channel, or CNBC, is formed to provide business news to cable television subscribers[1]
1993 GE Aerospace Division sold to Martin Marietta, now Lockheed Martin
1996 MSNBC is formed with partner Microsoft, to compete with the Cable News Network[1]
1996 GEnie is sold to Yovelle, now part of IDT Corp.
1996 General Electric sponsors the Main Street Electrical Parade for the farewell season at Disneyland
1999 Harkening back to the Easy-Bake Oven, General Electric introduces the Advantium oven, which uses halogen lights to cook food[1]
1999 Montgomery Ward exits Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and becomes a subsidiary of GE Capital, a major creditor

2000 and beyond


Date Event
2000 Montgomery Ward folded by GE Capital due to declining sales
2001 General Electric and Honeywell agree to merge, however it is blocked by European Union M&A chief Mario Monti
2001 Jeffrey Immelt becomes CEO, replacing Jack Welch
2001 NBC acquires Telemundo, one of the leading Spanish language television networks
2003 GE Healthcare acquires Instrumentarium
2003 GE Capital acquires Transamerica Finance from AEGON, who retained the rest of Transamerica Corporation
2004 NBC acquires the entertainment assets of Vivendi Universal, excluding Universal Music and forms NBC Universal, of which General Electric owns 80%
2004 GE Healthcare acquires Amersham plc
2004 GE Capital acquires Dillard's credit card unit for US$1.25 billion
2004 GE sells 60% stake in GE Capital International Services (GECIS) to private equity companies, Oak Hill Capital Partners and General Atlantic, for $500 million
2004 Genworth Financial formed from General Electric's life and mortgage insurance assets
2004 GE Security acquires InVision Technologies, a leading manufacturer of airport security equipment. On July 1, 2009, the European Union approves the sale of 81 percent of GE's airport security and biometrics division to French company Safran[3]
2005 GE Commercial Finance acquires the financial assets of Bombardier, a Canadian aircraft manufacturer for US$1.4 billion[4]
2006 GE Healthcare acquires IDX Systems, a medical software firm, for US$1.2 billion
2006 GE Advanced Materials division is sold to Apollo Management for US$3.8 billion
2006 GE Water & Process Technologies acquires Zenon Environmental Systems for $758 million
2007 GE Consumer & Industrial acquires Microwave Data Systems for US$600 million
2007 GE-Aviation acquires Smiths Aerospace for £2.4 billion
2007 GE Oil & Gas acquires Vetco Gray for US$1.9 billion
2007 GE Plastics is sold to SABIC for US$11.7 billion
2008 GE Co. acquires Vital Signs Inc. for US$860 million[5]
2009 GE buys Vivendi's stake in NBC Universal and sell a controlling interest of the company to Comcast, with GE retaining a 49 percent interest in the joint venture[6]
2010 GE enters negotiations with Comcast Corporation to sell the NBC/Universal unit; Clearance by the FCC and US Attorney General are required
2011 GE completes sale of NBC Universal with Comcast. GE still owns 49% of The Venture
2013 GE sells the remaining part of NBC Universal to Comcast.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 General Electric official history
  2. ↑ Trumbull Electric Manufacturing Company, Woodford Avenue, Plainville. :: Connecticut History Online
  3. ↑ Reuters (July 2, 2009)
  4. ↑ "Bombardier Sells Finance Unit to General Electric for $1.4 Bln." Gunsalus, J. Bloomberg.
  5. ↑ "Vital Signs to be acquired for $860 million". Chicago Tribune. 2008-07-25. Retrieved 2008-07-25. 
  6. ↑ "GE, Comcast announce NBC Universal joint venture deal" David Goldman and Julianne Pepitone, CNNMoney.com (December 3, 2009)
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