Jack Welch and the Consequences of Profit at All Costs: A Conversation with New York Times Reporter David Gelles, author of The Man Who Broke Capitalism

Long before Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Welch was one of the world's most powerful and celebrated CEOs. From 1981-2001, he transformed General Electric from a maker of light bulbs and washing machines to a multinational conglomerate, including financial services GE Capital, with a market value of more than $400 billion. But his scorched-earth approach to cost cutting and layoffs earned him the name “Neutron Jack” and set the stage for GE’s decimation years after he left. Business Professor Jeff Pfeffer led a lively conversation with David Gelles, author of The Man Who Broke Capitalism: How Jack Welch Gutted the Heartland and Crushed the Soul of Corporate America, and How to Undo His Legacy. Did Jack Welch really break capitalism? How can we replace his enduring influence with better business leadership today?

Speaker

David Gelles is a correspondent on the Climate desk at The New York Times, covering the intersection of public policy and the private sector.

Before joining the Climate team, he spent eight years as a reporter for the Business section, covering C.E.O.s, tech, media, Wall Street and more. Mr. Gelles was the Corner Office columnist from 2018 to 2022, and previously worked with the Well team to expand The Times’s coverage of meditation.

Before joining The Times in 2013, he was a reporter for the Financial Times in New York and San Francisco. While at the FT, he conducted an exclusive jailhouse interview with Bernard L. Madoff.

Mr. Gelles is also the author of Mindful Work: How Meditation Is Changing Business From the Inside Out. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley, Graduate School of Journalism and at Boston University, and lives in New York with his family.

Moderator

Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer