General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate incorporated in New York State and headquartered in Boston. Until 2021, the company operated in sectors including aviation, power, renewable energy, digital industry, weapons manufacturing, locomotives, and venture capital and finance,[3][4] but has since divested from several areas, now primarily consisting of the first four segments.[5]
In 2020, GE ranked among the Fortune 500 as the 33rd largest firm in the United States by gross revenue.[6] In 2011, GE ranked among the Fortune 20 as the 14th most profitable company, but later very severely underperformed the market (by about 75%) as its profitability collapsed.[7][8][9] Two employees of GE—Irving Langmuir (1932) and Ivar Giaever (1973)—have been awarded the Nobel Prize.[10]
On November 9, 2021, the company announced it would divide into three public companies. The new companies will be focused on aviation, healthcare, and energy (renewable energy, power and digital) respectively. The first spinoff of the healthcare division is planned for 2023 and to be followed by the spinoff of the energy division in 2024.[11][12]