zlacker

>>gwintr+(OP)
Personally, I want capital markets that are dynamic enough that some fraction of $n00 billion businesses become $(n-k)00 billion businesses (check out the aggregate market cap today of GE’s progeny).

I’m not even sure there’s a counterfactual world where GE is a $m trillion business: The global economy has largely evolved beyond these massive, diverse conglomerates, and likely all to the good.

What does a “wow, GE really has been managed wonderfully since 1980” story even look like? I imagine they split up much earlier, each spinoff establishes their own brand, and there’s no “GE” to talk about.

>>twoodf+Vf
There's an alternative world where they didn't focus so much on financing and GE Capital. You make a good point that they still would have a diverse set of businesses that would be hard/awkward to build in parallel.