Welch's Life and Times

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In many ways, Welch could not have picked a successor more different from himself. So Welch is short, scrappy, colorful, maverick, North of Boston with the accent of the wazoo. Emmelt is a patrician and not really a patricians, but you look at him and you think he's, you know, frat boy from football, Dartmouth, looks really good in a suit.

General Electric used to be the most valuable company in the world; now it's practically irrelevant. What happened? Today on the show, we're going to find answers. And to help, we're turning to two writers who have followed the saga closely and written about it brilliantly: Malcolm Gladwell and William Cohan.

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• Check out "Power Failure: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon" and subscribe to Bill's newsletter, "Dry Powder"

• Read Malcolm's New Yorker story: "Was Jack Welch the Greatest C.E.O. of His Day—or the Worst?"

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