Welch in 2012.
A former alumnus of the University of Illinois has passed away.
Jack Welch, the former chief executive of General Electric has passed away at the age of 84 in his Manhattan, New York home. The cause of death was renal failure, according to his wife, Suzy Welch.
Welch first earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He declined several offers to work at several different companies in order to attend the University of Illinois as a graduate student. He graduated in 1960 with a masters and Ph.D. in chemical engineering.
Welch immediately began to work at General Electric after graduating, starting as a chemical engineer in 1960. In 1972, he became vice president of the company, and by 1979, he had become chairman.
Welch rose to global fame when he became the CEO of GE during the Reagan Administration. At the time, corporate giants were trying their hardest to earn back some of the cash had been lost in the ‘70s, and the Reagan administration was implementing tax cuts to help start-up business again.
Welch took advantage of this and he went on to make GE one of the most successful companies of the 20th century, raising the value of GE from $12 billion to $410 billion. Revenue also went from $1.5 billion to $15 billion.
His methodology of conducting business was somewhat controversial. He famously earned the nickname Neutron Jack from slashing the GE workforce. About 112,000 people lost their jobs between 1980 and 1985. Welch had stated they were fired due to productive reasons and saw it as a necessary pain in order to make the company more productive again.
Moreover, Welch was seen as an “inside outsider”, as he saw the rise of Japanese corporations taking over the American appliance market. Even though he had already been with the company for 20 years prior to becoming CEO, Welch’s first measure was to reform the entire company.
Welch retired from being CEO in 2000. In 2006, Welch gave his name to Sacred Heart University’s College of Business, which became known as the John F. Welch College of Business. He also began to teach a class at the MIT School of Management. He also created the Jack Welch Management Institute which has become one of the top online MBA programs in the country.
Welch is survived by his wife, Suzy Welch, as well as children, four stepchildren and 10 grandchildren.