Get the latest tech news

Jack Welch, the Man Who Broke Capitalism (2022)

In David Gelles’ new book, The Man Who Broke Capitalism —and How to Undo His Legacy, he chronicles how Welch’s laser focus on maximizing shareholder value by any means necessary - including layoffs, outsourcing, offshoring, acquisitions, and buybacks - became the new playbook in American business.

The book demonstrates how this shareholder maximizing version of capitalism has led to the greatest socioeconomic inequality since the Great Depression and harmed many of the very companies that have embraced it. Simon & Schuster To get at the root of why this society seems to put our bosses up on pedestals, look back well over 100 years to the way we celebrated some of the early industrialists who rose to such great heights. In a big, diverse country that never had a monarchy or a unified religion, and is increasingly polarized and fractured, we look to our business leaders as some of the most important and perhaps some of the last sort of cultural touchstones who can be relevant to society at large.

Get the Android app