> But complexity has a cost when multiple things collapse at once. The power business cratered in 2017 and the insurance liabilities exploded and oil prices collapsed. CEO John Flannery launched "Project Eisenhower," a secret plan to break up the company. His successor, Larry Culp, made it official: After 126 years, the conglomerate would split into three.
> The final irony? The same GE labs that created the first US jet engine, the MRI, and LED lighting still exist. In 2024, they're developing hydrogen-powered aircraft engines and 3D-printing technology that would have amazed Edison. But the conglomerate that funded them is gone.
Splitting the conglomerate was probably a wise move.