Jack Welch, America's Most Famous CEO

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Jack Welch was the CEO of General Electric for more than 20 years. In his last act as CEO, he oversaw a bruising succession battle and left GE in good hands. Jack's mantra was fix it, close it, or sell it: If one of G.E.'s businesses wasn't market leader, well, then they shouldn't be in that business. He shuttered underperforming divisions, cut a hundred thousand jobs.

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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