GE names Flannery CEO as Immelt to step down after 16 years

New York:

General Electric Co. named health-care head John Flannery its new chairman and chief executive officer, ending Jeffrey Immelt’s 16-year tenure, which included a withdrawal from financial services and a renewed focus on equipment manufacturing.

Flannery, 55, will become CEO on Aug. 1 and will add the title of chairman on Jan. 1, the Boston-based company said in a statement Monday. The appointment is the result of succession planning that’s been under way since 2011, the company said.

The CEO-designate “has led complex financial and industrial businesses all over the world, including running GE Healthcare, GE in India and the business development team for GE through the successful acquisition of Alstom,” said Jack Brennan, the company’s lead independent director. Flannery joined GE in 1987 and has led the health-care unit since 2014.

The company’s move followed months of stepped-up pressure on Immelt, 61, from activist investor Trian Fund Management over a slide in GE’s stock to the lowest level in a year and a half. The shares have fallen 12 per cent this year, compared with an 8.6 per cent gain for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

GE shares rose 4.2 per cent to $29.11 (Dh106.92) before regular trading in New York.

Kieran Murphy was named president and CEO of GE Healthcare, the company said in a separate statement.

— Bloomberg