John Francis Welch Jr. (November 19, 1935 – March 1, 2020) was an American business executive, chemical engineer, and writer. He was Chairman and CEO of General Electric (GE) between 1981 and 2001.

Jack Welch, also known as John Francis Welch Jr., was an American business executive who served as the CEO of General Electric (GE) from 1981 to 2001. During his tenure, Welch transformed GE into one of the most successful and profitable companies in the world. He was known for his aggressive management style, which involved cutting costs, restructuring operations, and selling off non-core businesses. Welch also implemented a performance management system, known as "rank and yank," which involved ranking employees based on their performance and firing the bottom 10% every year.

Under Welch's leadership, GE's market value increased from $12 billion to over $410 billion, and its revenues grew from $25 billion to $130 billion. He also diversified GE's business portfolio, moving the company away from manufacturing and into services such as financial services and media. However, Welch's management style was controversial, and he was criticized for his approach to layoffs and his emphasis on short-term financial results. Despite the criticism, Welch's impact on GE and the business world at large cannot be denied, and his legacy as one of the most successful and influential CEOs of all time remains intact.

When Welch retired from GE, he received a severance payment of $417 million, the largest such payment in business history up to that point.[1] In 2006, Welch's net worth was estimated at $720 million.[2]

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Welch