General Electric

The General Electric Company, or GE, {{nyse|GE}} is a multinational technology and services company. Going into 2005, it was the world's largest corporation in terms of market cap (http://screen.yahoo.com/b?mc=100000000/&b=1&z=mc&db=stocks&vw=1). However, on the back of high oil prices, ExxonMobil has outranked GE for most of 2005. It should not be confused with The General Electric Company plc, which was renamed Marconi plc in 1999.

History

In 1876, Thomas Alva Edison opened a new laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. Out of the laboratory was to come perhaps the most famous invention of all—a successful development of the incandescent electric lamp. By 1890, Edison had organized his various businesses into the Edison General Electric Company.

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1876 - Thomas Alva Edison - Menlo Park - New Jersey - Incandescent electric lamp - 1890

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In 1879, Elihu Thomson and E. J. Houston formed the rival Thomson-Houston Company. It merged with various companies and was later led by Charles A. Coffin, a former shoe manufacturer from Lynn, Massachusetts.

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1879 - Elihu Thomson - Lynn, Massachusetts

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Mergers with competitors and the patent rights owned by each company put them into dominant positions in the electrical industry. As businesses expanded, it became increasingly difficult for either company to produce complete electrical installations relying solely on their own technology. In 1892, these two major companies combined, in a merger arranged by financier J. P. Morgan, to form the General Electric Company, with its headquarters in Schenectady, New York.

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1892 - Financier - J. P. Morgan - Schenectady, New York

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In 1896, General Electric was one of the original 12 companies listed on the newly-formed Dow Jones Industrial Average. GE is the only one that remains today.

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1896 - Original 12 - Dow Jones Industrial Average

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The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) was founded by GE and AT&T in 1919 to further international radio.

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Radio Corporation of America (RCA) - AT&T - 1919 - Radio

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General Electric was one of the eight major computer companies (with IBM - the largest, Burroughs, Scientific Data Systems, Control Data Corporation, Honeywell, RCA and UNIVAC) through most of the 1960s. GE had an extensive line of general purpose and special purpose computers. Among them were the GE 215, GE 225, GE 235 and GE 600 series general purpose computers, the GE 4010, GE 4020, and GE 4060 real time process control computers, and the Datanet 30 message switching computer. A Datanet 600 computer was designed, but never sold. It has been said that GE got into the computer manufacturing business because in the 1950's they were the largest user of computers outside of the Federal Government. In 1970 GE sold its computer division to Honeywell.

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Computer - IBM - Burroughs - Scientific Data Systems - Control Data Corporation - Honeywell - RCA - UNIVAC - 1960s - 1950's - 1970

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In 1986, GE re-acquired RCA, primarily for the NBC television network. The rest was sold to various companies, including Bertelsmann AG and Thomson.

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1986 - NBC - Bertelsmann AG - Thomson

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In 2004, GE bought from Vivendi Universal the television and movie assets and became the third largest media conglomerate in the world. The new company was named NBC Universal. Also in 2004, GE completed the spinoff of most of its life and mortgage insurance assets into an independent company, Genworth Financial, based in Richmond, Virginia. In that same year, GE also acquired the credit card unit of the department store Dillard's for $1.25 billion.

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2004 - Vivendi Universal - NBC Universal - Life - Mortgage - Insurance - Genworth Financial - Richmond, Virginia - Department store - Dillard's

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In 2005, General Electric bought the financial assets of the Canadian airplane manufacturer Bombardier for $1.4 billion http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=aeIc.zt1tBbc

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2005 - Bombardier

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