Book Review: How GE Became a Shadow of Its Once Great Self

Wall Street Journal reporters Thomas Gryta and Ted Mann’s Lights Out: Pride, Delusion, and the Fall of General Electric is the cautionary tale of GE CEO Jack Welch’s handpicked successor Jeff Immelt, a derelict board of directors, and the destruction of one of America’s great and most iconic companies.

Many considered GE the world’s best-managed company and Jack Welch the 20^th century’s greatest CEO. With a market capitalization over $600 billion in 2000, it was the world’s most valuable company and the gold standard of credibility.