Jeffrey R. Immelt
Jeffrey R. Immelt
Jeffrey Robert "Jeff" Immeltis an American business executive. He is currently the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the U.S.-based conglomerate General Electric. He was selected as GE's CEO by their Board of Directors in 2000 to replace Jack Welch upon Welch's retirement from GE. Previously, Immelt had headed up GE's Medical Systems divisionas its President and CEO...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBusinessman
Date of Birth19 February 1956
CountryUnited States of America
Good leaders don't tell people what to do, they give teams capability and inspiration.
I'm an optimist. I've always believed the future is going to be better than the past. And I also believe I have a role in that. The great thing about human beings, myself in particular, is that I can change. I can do better. If you can get up every day, stay optimistic, and believe the future is better than the past, those few things get you through a lot of tough times.
GE sells more than 96 percent of its products to the private sector, where America's future must be built. But government can help business invest in our shared future.
You can stay too long in a job, that's for sure. But by the same token, in the 12 years I have been CEO of GE, there have been four CEOs of Toshiba. So there's too short a time to do it, and there's too long a time to do it.
I do business in 170 countries; none of them is perfect. There is not even one country that I think of, and I am like, 'God, that did everything that I wanted it to do.'
I'm a complete globalist. I think like a global CEO. But I'm an American. I run an American company. But in order for GE to be successful in the coming years, I've gotta sell my products in every corner of the world.