General Electric shares finished last week strongly after separate media and analyst reports stoked speculation that Jeff Immelt’s long and eventful reign at one of America’s biggest companies could be drawing to a close.
To be sure, neither Immelt or the company have indicated that the 61-year-old is going anywhere just yet. GE doesn’t have a mandatory retirement age, though previous CEO Jack Welch stood down when he was 66, having occupied the top job for around two decades.
The company’s shares rose as much as 2.6% on Friday after Fox Business reported that activist investor Nelson Peltz isn’t happy with the company’s performance and may push for Immelt’s departure. Separately, an analyst at Barclay’s said a change in CEO “is worth 5% to the stock”.
GE shares are little changed from where they were when Immelt took the reins in 2001. The Ohioan, however, has helped steer the company through the global financial crisis. and, in recent years, slimmed its focus to concentrate on engineering after its financial services business consistently dragged on profits.
He’s also compressed costs by scaling up through the acquisitions of power generation business Alstom and oil and gas services provider Baker Hughes, while championing investments in disruptive digital engineering capabilities.
GE missed its own revenue target for 2016, apparently concerning Peltz, who would only say that his hedge fund Trian Fund Management and GE “continue to work constructively together to optimize shareholder value.”
Immelt also has been unfortunate enough to preside over the company during a historic fall in oil prices, which would have sapped demand from some of GE’s big energy customers.
“Normally, we expect our diversified model to shrug off headwinds in one market and continue to achieve our goals,” he said in a letter to shareholders last month. “In 2016, we simply couldn’t outrun the pressure in the resource markets.”
Whenever Immelt does leave, the company could well stick with tradition and chose an internal successor. Potential candidates include CFO Jeffrey Bornstein, power business head Steve Bolze and healthcare business head John Flannery.
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1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns. They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning. Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process. This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented. If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form. The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
Limited space available.
10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS
General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.
