General Electric on Monday announced that Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt will be stepping down, a management shake-up that many people saw coming.
Shares of GE climbed more than 3 percent in premarket trading following this news. As of Friday’s close, the stock had traded off around 12 percent for the year-to-date period.
John Flannery, current president and CEO of GE Healthcare, has been named CEO of the company, effective August 1, 2017, and chairman and CEO effective January 1, 2018.
“John is the right person to lead GE today,” Immelt said in a statement. “He will be trusted by investors, our customers and the GE team.”
Flannery, 55, began his career at GE Capital in 1987, where he focused on evaluating risk for leveraged buy-outs. He has led GE’s equity business in Latin America and the overall GE Capital
business for Argentina and Chile.
Flannery also spearheaded the turnaround of GE Healthcare, increasing organic revenue by 5 percent and margins by 100 basis points in 2016, GE said.
“Today’s announcement is the greatest honor of my career,” Flannery said in a statement. “I am privileged to have spent the last 16 years at the company working for Jeff, one of the greatest business leaders of our time.”
Immelt, 61, will remain chairman of the board through his retirement from the company on December 31, 2017.
Additionally, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Bornstein will become vice chairman of the company, and Kieran Murphy has been appointed CEO of GE Healthcare, succeeding Flannery. Murphy is currently the president of GE Healthcare’s life sciences division.
GE said these moves are part of its succession plan, which has been in place by the company’s board since 2011.
CEO Immelt led GE through a portfolio transformation, the 9/11 tragedy, the financial crisis and oil price dynamics, among other things, the company said. “Immelt’s vision has positioned GE for the future and greatly strengthened the GE culture.”
Immelt, who succeeded Jack Welch in 2001, also aided in restructuring GE Capital, shifting the company’s focus from finance to more manufacturing.
—Reuters contributed to this report.