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Power Failure: The downfall of General Electric
Power Failure by William Cohan chronicles the spectacular collapse of General Electric, once America's most valuable company. From a $600 billion giant to near-bankruptcy, GE's downfall reveals how financialization and imperial CEOs destroyed a 130-year industrial icon.
From Edison's first light bulbs to Jeff Immelt's desperate final days, Cohan shows how the company that literally illuminated America became "a huge unregulated bank with a light-bulb logo." Cookie Jar Reserves: Overstate costs when acquiring companies, then "release" the excess later as profit Gain on Sale Accounting: Sell a power plant to a customer, book future service contracts as immediate profit The Insurance Time Bomb: Underpricing long-term care insurance in the 1990s created a $15 billion hole that exploded in 2017 Immelt's "13 Cents": The infamous quarter where GE reported exactly 13 cents per share—what analysts expected—despite massive business headwinds. By 2017, GE made everything from MRI machines to wind turbines, owned media companies and oil services firms, financed Thai auto loans and American credit cards.
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