#47 – GE: Building a World That Works
“We rise to the challenge of building a world that works.”
This is the purpose statement by GE, the historic American industrial company founded in 1892 by Thomas Edison in Schenectady, New York.
Once a powerhouse of American industry, GE became a global symbol of innovation, progress, and engineering excellence — producing everything from light bulbs to locomotives, from MRI scanners to jet engines.
For over a century, it shaped entire sectors and economies, playing a defining role in energy, aviation, and healthcare worldwide. At its peak, GE operated in over 180 countries and ranked among the top five corporations on the Fortune 500 list.
But the story of GE is also one of complexity and overreach. The aggressive expansion of its financial services arm, GE Capital, made the company vulnerable.
When the 2008 financial crisis struck, the exposure proved catastrophic, triggering a long and painful restructuring process. Over the following decade, GE divested multiple units, shrank its portfolio, and struggled to regain strategic clarity.
Then came a bold final step: in 2021, GE announced it would split into three independent entities: GE Healthcare, GE Vernova (energy), and GE Aerospace, each with its own focus, leadership, and market. This monumental shift culminated in April 2024, when GE, as a conglomerate, formally ceased to exist, completing one of the most dramatic transformations in corporate history.
And yet, its purpose endures, not as a branding statement, but as a cultural legacy inherited by the three successor companies.
“We rise to the challenge of building a world that works” was never meant to serve a single structure. It now guides the missions of three focused companies tackling critical issues such as the energy transition, accessible healthcare, and the future of flight.
What GE could no longer achieve through scale, it now attempts to deliver through precision. And in that shift, its purpose proves more resilient than the institution that once carried it.
