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.

©2022 David Gelles. All rights reserved (P)2022 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

A must-read.

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

Wonderful Book, Awful Narration

As somebody who worked at General Electric from 1989 to 2009 and interfaced with Jack Welch on a relatively regular basis in my role as an anchor at CNBC, I find that this book nails everything that was right and wrong with the Welch way.

The insane zeal to “beat the street” by a penny, employee be damned, was one of the awful legacies Jack Welch left us. As the author explains, Welch’s successor Jeff Immelt was no better. I will leave the storytelling to Mr. Geddes and simply say that I witnessed a lot of this personally at the time I was too naïve, too starstruck and too dependent on my job at GE/NBC, to speak up or say anything.

As for the narrator of this book, what an awful job. He didn’t even pronounce Jack Welch’s name properly on multiple occasions, he used the French pronunciation when it wasn’t warranted and didn’t when it was. His overall lack of facility with business and corporate information in any detail proved him to be someone way over his head in terms of subject matter. This book would have been much better if it’s audio version had it been read by someone with an understanding and command of the situation at GE and corporate America in general. Simon & Schuster can and should have done better in selecting a narrator!

Explains how Working was Devalued

Concise history of how working for a living has been devalued by the investing class. Demonstrates how publicly traded companies are responsible for sending jobs offshores and destroying the working class in America.

Excellent analysis of American business practices.

This book is well researched and re-examines the legacy of Jack Welch. All corporate executives should read this book. Everyone should read this book.

A great History Lesson

This book goes a long way towards exposing those responsible for deconstructing the American economy and our manufacturing base while walking away with billions in remuneration and bonuses.

Painful for those who fell for his scam.

I'm sure it hurts for graduates of modern business school, but they fell for a scam.

validation of the fact that things are wrong

There is something wrong with our system in this book points a very big finger at it

Long Term GE Employee - This Rings True

I’ve been at GE’s aircraft engines business for over 15 years. Every industrial worker should read this book. It helped me to make sense of a lot of the moves I’ve seen the company make over the years.

Must read corporate horror story

This is both an important and gripping story of a man whose influence we all suffer from without being aware of it. The writing is breezy and compelling and the narration so good that you don’t even hear the narrator’s voice while getting drawn into the story.

Great book

Fascinating take on the rise and fall of Jack Welch and his acolytes. While still leaving some hope for the future.