GENERAL ELECTRIC CO

General Electric Co., perhaps better known as just GE, was formed out of the merger between Edison General Electric Company and Thomas-Houston Electric Company in 1892. The company was one of the original 12 companies listed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company would expand both organically and through acquisitions, acquiring the National Electric Lamp Association in 1911. General Electric, like the name implies, invests heavily in developments related to electricity, founding the Radio Corporation of America in 1919 in an effort to expand international Radio, experimenting with television broadcasts in 1927, and working to develop alternative energies such as wind. The company also would become one of the eight major computer companies of the 1960s, offering a line of general and special purpose computers for its customers. General Electric seemed to expand into every relatable field, acquiring companies such as Enron Wind, Smiths Aerospace, Vetco Gray, Opal Software, and many others along the way. The company today acts as a infrastructure and financial services company that has an international presence, offering its products and services through major segments of: Power and Water, Oil and Gas, Energy Management, Aviation, Healthcare, Transportation, and Capital. It is the 26th largest firm in the United States and is listed as the fourth largest in the world in the Forbes Global 2000. General Electric employs over 300 thousand employees worldwide. It has total assets of over $650 billion and generates a yearly revenue of approximately $146 billion. The company structures itself to be the world’s top “infrastructure and technology company with a smaller financial services division,” focusing on “investing in innovation and achieving a culture of simplification to better serve our customers around the world.” The company’s assets are currently split between a 60% industrial focus and a 40% capital focus, striving to reduce its capital business and align its expansion with industrial earnings. Some of the funds, operated through its subsidiary investment companies, include Global Select Equity, S&P 500 Index, Small-Cap Equity, and Core Plus Fixed Income.