The Man Who Broke Capitalism

How Jack Welch Gutted the Heartland and Crushed the Soul of Corporate America—and How to Undo His Legacy

By: David Gelles

Narrated by: Kevin R. Free

New York Times Bestseller

New York Times reporter and “Corner Office” columnist David Gelles reveals legendary GE CEO Jack Welch to be the root of all that’s wrong with capitalism today and offers advice on how we might right those wrongs.

In 1981, Jack Welch took over General Electric and quickly rose to fame as the first celebrity CEO. He golfed with presidents, mingled with movie stars, and was idolized for growing GE into the most valuable company in the world. But Welch’s achievements didn’t stem from some greater intelligence or business prowess. Rather, they were the result of a sustained effort to push GE’s stock price ever higher, often at the expense of workers, consumers, and innovation. In this captivating, revelatory book, David Gelles argues that Welch single-handedly ushered in a new, cutthroat era of American capitalism that continues to this day.

Gelles chronicles Welch’s campaign to vaporize hundreds of thousands of jobs in a bid to boost profits, eviscerating the country’s manufacturing base, and destabilizing the middle class. Welch’s obsession with downsizing—he eliminated 10% of employees every year—fundamentally altered GE and inspired generations of imitators who have employed his strategies at other companies around the globe. In his day, Welch was corporate America’s leading proponent of mergers and acquisitions, using deals to gobble up competitors and giving rise to an economy that is more concentrated and less dynamic. And Welch pioneered the dark arts of “financialization,” transforming GE from an admired industrial manufacturer into what was effectively an unregulated bank. The finance business was hugely profitable in the short term and helped Welch keep GE’s stock price ticking up. But ultimately, financialization undermined GE and dozens of other Fortune 500 companies.

Gelles shows how Welch’s celebrated emphasis on increasing shareholder value by any means necessary (layoffs, outsourcing, offshoring, acquisitions, and buybacks, to name but a few tactics) became the norm in American business generally. He demonstrates how that approach has led to the greatest socioeconomic inequality since the Great Depression and harmed many of the very companies that have embraced it. And he shows how a generation of Welch acolytes radically transformed companies like Boeing, Home Depot, Kraft Heinz, and more. Finally, Gelles chronicles the change that is now afoot in corporate America, highlighting companies and leaders who have abandoned Welchism and are proving that it is still possible to excel in the business world without destroying livelihoods, gutting communities, and spurning regulation.

Critic reviews

"This takedown of the legendary CEO of General Electric would be interesting even without Kevin R. Free’s exceptional performance. But his artistry provides exceptional listening. Nevermind Free’s appealing diction, impressive phrasing, and ability to orchestrate the ebb and flow of mood or tone. What really impresses is how perfectly he applies these vocal skills to every dramatic detail and underlying thread in the gripping story of Welch’s brutal management style and its lasting impact on American business culture. The author shows how Welch and his acolytes reneged on traditional corporate responsibilities by prioritizing short-range profits, cutting jobs, and misleading the public with dishonest accounting practices. They rewarded shareholders and managers at the expense of workers, customers, innovation, and even safety."

A must-read.

Helps one understand how we to to where we are today. well performed, beautifully written.

Good story but wrong title

Capitalism is not the word here he broke corporate management. Certainly, he messed up proper publicly traded company management. Capitalism is mostly double entry accounting between buying and selling. What he did do was let investors think making a quality product/service too hard to understand so look at the MBAs instead of technology

Great book, highly recommend

I really enjoyed this book! Learning about what had caused such a dramatic change in how corporations treated not only their employees and surrounding communities, but on how focused they became on shareholder primacy and their executive's pay; are both amazing and sickening!

Articulated what working Americans feel

This book articulated the problems with our current version of capitalism that many people feel but do not understand. You can trace most the problems we have today to the “Financialization” of corporate America. Workers have been left behind, and while elected officials deserve some blame, more anger needs to be directed at the corporate class who rigged the game for themselves.

Brilliant Thesis

Just think about one thing; an great American company laying off 100s of thousands. How and why could this happen. This book explains it in a way that most everyone can understand. His thesis is the wave of what has happened to American business since Jack Welch. I was glued to this recording and the narrator was excellent. What you want in a book are facts enveloped by explanations and examples. This book gives the reader all of it. All I can think about is the poor victims of Jack Welch's greed and arrogance. Very sad.