American business executive, chemical engineer, and writer, perhaps the most touted CEO in America in the 1980s and 1990s. He was chairman and CEO of General Electric (GE) between 1981 and 2001, with a record of returning more value to shareholders than even Bill Gates or Sam Walton, an increase of more than 3,000% during his tenure. When he retired from GE he received a severance payment of $417 million, the largest such payment in business history. His autobiography, Jack: Straight From the Gut, became an instant best-seller upon its publication on 11 September 2001. In 2006, Welch’s net worth was estimated at $720 million.
Welch recreated GE, taking an inefficient company into an upwardly mobile behemoth selling airplane engines, providing mortgages and running a TV network. A ferocious deal-maker, he was named Manager of the Century by Fortune magazine. For 20 years, Welch worked his way through GE, including the plastics division and Credit corporation, rising to the top job in 1981, succeeding Reginald Jones. When he retired, he left his hand-picked successor, Jeff Immelt. He spent five weeks on a tour to promote his book that copped a $7 million dollar advance, and was then available as a Consultant. He joined a New York private equity firm as a special partner.
In addition to his consulting and advisory roles, Welch had been active on the public speaking circuit and co-wrote a popular column for BusinessWeek with his third wife, Suzy, for four years until November 2009. The column was syndicated by The New York Times. His second book, Winning, was released in early April 2005. The book provides advice on climbing the corporate ladder, managing competition, and leadership.
In 2009, Welch founded the Jack Welch Management Institute (JWMI), a program at Chancellor University that offered an online executive Master of Business Administration. At GE, Welch became known for his teaching and growing leaders. He had taught at MIT Sloan School of Management and taught seminars to CEOs all over the globe. “More than 35 CEOs at today’s top companies [were] trained under Jack Welch”. JWMI students had direct access to Welch and he hosted quarterly video conferences with his students.
A slight man who spoke with a heavy Boston accent, Jack came across like an ordinary Joe, putting people at ease. He could be blunt, crude, coarse, profane and funny, what may have been called “paht of his chahm.” He was a man’s man with three passions; G.E., golf and the Boston Red Sox. He went through a divorce and two heart attacks along the way and admitted that he could have been a better dad to his four kids. He was the only child of older parents. His dad was a conductor on the railroad and he was closest to his mom, who encouraged his self-confidence when he stuttered. He was devastated by her death in 1965. He studied chemical engineering at the University of Illinois and started with GE in 1960 at a salary of $10,500 a year.
When his first marriage broke up in 1987, he wrote that it was “difficult and painful.” As to parenting, he could only note that he was “the ultimate workaholic.” His second wife, Jane, was a spirited Alabama-born lawyer 17 years younger than he. They both loved golf and were both club champions. They lived in Connecticut but vacationed in Nantucket. Welch’s second marriage came to an end with the public disclosure of his affair with Suzy Wetlaufer, 42, a divorcee who edited the Harvard Business Review. Wetlaufer was openly delighted in telling colleagues that their relationship began in November 2001, after she completed a series of interviews to compliment the publication of his book. It was ongoing when it reached the pages of Time magazine in March 2002. The former CEO of General Electric married Wetlaufer on 24 April 2004 at the Park Street Church in Boston, Massachusetts. At age 68, Welch had been married twice previously and Wetlaufer, 44, once before. After the one-hour ceremony Welch exclaimed, “I’ve never been a better man.” They were married until his death. Jack Welch died from kidney failure at his home in New York City on 1 March 2020 at age 84.

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