SAEDNEWS: General Electric is an American multinational conglomerate producing medical equipment, power systems, turbines, electric motors, appliances, electronics, lighting, aerospace gear, and jet engines. This article explores the company’s rich history.
General Electric (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Its history dates back to Thomas Edison’s commercialization of the electric light, and today, GE operates across a wide array of industries including aviation, medical equipment, renewable energy, financial consulting, and oil and gas.
Over its long history, the GE brand has consistently ranked among the world’s top companies. According to the latest Fortune 500 list, GE is ranked 31st. Beyond its founder Thomas Edison, the iconic figure of the electricity industry, renowned scientists such as Irving Langmuir and Ivar Giaever (both Nobel laureates) have been part of GE’s workforce.
GE’s roots trace back to Thomas Edison’s earliest factories and companies. Recognized worldwide for inventing the electric lamp and many other electrical innovations, Edison established multiple facilities in the late 19th century to commercialize his inventions. One of his first ventures was located in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
In 1876, Edison founded his home and research laboratory in Menlo Park, a previously failed real estate project inspired by Menlo Park, California. It was here that Edison earned the nickname “Wizard of Menlo Park.” The Menlo Park lab was one of the first to operate with clear commercial and industrial objectives in the electrical sector. Edison invented the phonograph and stable incandescent lamp filaments here, and as a result, Christie Street in Menlo Park became one of the first streets in the world lit by electric lamps.
Another key company that later became part of GE was the Thomson-Houston Electric Company, founded in 1883 through the acquisition of the American Electric Company. Its founders, Elihu Thomson and Edwin Houston, were among the early pioneers in the electrical industry.
Meanwhile, Edison had amassed stakes in multiple electrical companies, including Edison Electric Light Company in New Jersey, Edison Dynamo & Motor Works in Schenectady, Bergen & Company, and Edison Electric Light Patent Management. Financial backing came through Drexel, Morgan & Co., managed by J.P. Morgan and the Vanderbilt family, which funded Edison’s experimental research.
In 1889, Drexel, Morgan & Co. helped Edison merge his companies, forming Edison General Electric. On April 24, 1889, it officially began operations in New York, later acquiring the French company Sprague Electric Railway & Motor. Finally, in 1892, Edison General Electric merged with Thomson-Houston Electric, forming General Electric with Drexel Morgan’s support. Both companies continued to operate under the GE brand.
From the early 20th century, GE expanded by acquiring smaller companies and merging them with its existing divisions. In 1911, the National Electric Lamp Association joined GE’s lighting division in Nela Park, Ohio. In 1919, Owen D. Young helped GE establish the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) through the acquisition of Marconi’s telegraph company, marking GE’s global expansion into radio communication. RCA later led to the creation of NBC (National Broadcasting Company) in 1926.
GE also pioneered television technology. In 1927, Ernest Alexanderson developed the first experimental television transmission at GE. On January 13, 1928, he claimed to launch the first public TV network in the U.S., W2XAD, which later became WRGB.
In aviation, Stanford Alexander Moss, a GE aerospace engineer, tested the company’s first turbocharger in 1918, marking GE’s entry into aircraft engines. During World War I, GE introduced its first superchargers, which became essential for aviation between the wars. By World War II, GE produced roughly 300,000 turbochargers for bombers and fighter planes, and it developed the first American jet engine, the W.1, in 1941.
The 1970s saw the rise of computing, and GE joined the industry alongside IBM, Honeywell, RCA, and UNIVAC. GE produced both general-purpose computers (GE200, GE400, GE600) and specialized process control computers (GE4010, GE4020, GE4060). GE also developed the GECOS operating system (later GCOS) in 1962 and collaborated with Bell Labs and MIT on the Multics OS for the GE465 computer.
GE’s entry into computing was driven by its internal manufacturing needs. By the 1960s, it was the largest private computer purchaser in the U.S. The company’s Appliance Park became the first non-governmental facility to integrate computers into production. GE later sold its computer business to Honeywell in the 1970s, though its software services, including time-sharing solutions like GXS, continued for years.
Today, GE operates across industries including medical services, infrastructure, aviation, finance, and digital technology. Its historical consumer appliance divisions have been sold but remain a notable part of its legacy. Key subsidiaries include:
RCA and NBC
GE Appliances
GE Additive
GE Aviation
GE Capital
GE Digital
GE Healthcare
GE Lighting
GE Power
GE Renewable Energy
GE Transportation
Baker Hughes
GE Global Research
Like many long-standing companies, GE has faced both triumphs and setbacks. Financial crises, particularly after the tenure of legendary CEO Jack Welch, forced GE to sell assets and subsidiaries to stabilize operations.
Historically, GE has faced criticism for environmental pollution, particularly chemical waste from its appliance divisions affecting the Hudson and Housatonic Rivers. The 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster also drew scrutiny toward GE’s reactor designs, though the immediate cause was a tsunami. Despite criticisms, GE has invested heavily in renewable energy and pollution reduction initiatives.
In recent years, GE has streamlined operations, selling its historic appliance division and other subsidiaries. Leadership changes in its healthcare division—such as John L. Flannery replacing Jeffrey Immelt in 2017, then being succeeded by Lawrence Culp in 2018—reflect ongoing restructuring. Today, GE reports revenues of approximately $122 billion and employs around 313,000 people worldwide.
This translation preserves the detail and narrative flow of the original Persian text while adapting it to professional English suitable for readers of business or technology-focused magazines like Discover.
