The company that sells microwave dryers is called.
However, how was this company born? How big is it? Does it have those buried stories? What little-known secrets are waiting for us to discover? Let's find out.
Preface (preface)
1889, Thomas Edison merged several companies, and with the financial support of JPMorgan Chase and Anthony drexel, he founded the General Electric Company (GE for short). But at least in some ways, he is not a modest gentleman.
At that time, in order to promote the development of the company, many immoral behaviors were done. Electrocuting animals is one of them.
Except for Edison's misconduct. 1886, GE became one of the first 12 listed companies of the newly established Dow Jones Industrial Index. GE became the only company among the original 12 companies still on the index. At the beginning of the 20th century, GE became the first company to enter the audio broadcasting industry. Radio Corporation of America, RCA for short, is still in operation today. At the same time, Ge also invented the electric toaster and electric stove. Triggered a small revolution in home cooking.
In 1930s, in response to the Great Depression, General Electric introduced consumer finance, allowing customers to buy new household appliances in installments.
In the 1930s and 1940s, GE led more innovations. Such as incandescent lamps and commercial autopilot. Interestingly, in the 1950s, General Electric became the first company in the world to own a computer. At the same time, it is also the largest computer user except the US government. Since then, GE has started to produce its own large computers and even its own operating system. Ge, IBM, Honeywell and other companies became the eight major computer companies in the 1960s. This situation continued until the 1970s. Until GM sold its computer division to Honeywell.
Throughout the 20th century, GE expanded its business into many fields, and the energy industry was one of them. In 2002, it took over the company's wind energy assets when Enron went bankrupt. Enron wind energy was the only remaining large wind turbine manufacturer in the United States at that time.
Late 20th century, 2 1 early 20th century. General Electric has become a household name in the world.
at present
Today, GE ranks 24th in the Forbes 500 in revenue. Let's feel his actual scale in some ways.
GE has about 305,000 employees, and its revenue is $65.438+46 billion. And assets worth more than $650 billion. It exceeds the GDP of Sweden and Norway and is about twice that of Singapore. At the same time, it also ranks ninth in Forbes list of the most valuable brands in the world. All this sounds quite good, so how did it get rich? Before answering this question, I would like to ask you to think about another question: what is GE's biggest source of income? This question is too mindless. Isn't it energy? However, this is not the case.
This table shows the income distribution of GE for three years. It can be seen that GE's biggest income actually comes from finance, accounting for 3 1%. Business scope includes personal loans, credit cards, energy and financial services, etc. It is worth mentioning that GE's market share in the capital market is almost half that of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citibank Group. However, GE has started to sell its financial department, and its current market share is between 65,438+00% and one-sixth of the above-mentioned banks. The above three banks are the result of the merger of 28 banks since the 1990s. Therefore, it is not easy for GE to achieve such results.
The second largest division of GE is energy and water conservancy, accounting for 18% of the total revenue. It includes gasoline, wind and steam turbines, nuclear reactors, solar energy and generators.
Next is the aviation sector, accounting for 14% of the total revenue. Its business involves aviation services and systems, as well as military and commercial engines.
Further down is the medical sector, accounting for 12% of the total income. Its business includes magnetic resonance, CT scanner, X-ray and surgical and molecular imaging equipment. GE's market share in the medical equipment industry is about 39%.
As for oil and gasoline. Surprisingly, they only account for 10% of GE's total revenue.
In addition, GE also produces other things, such as refrigerators, freezers, rice cookers, gas stoves, cooktops, dishwashers, dryers, microwave ovens and so on.
The dark side.
As soon as the painting style changes, let's look at the other side. The development of General Electric is not smooth sailing. At some point in its history, General Electric Company was not regarded as an innovation base. The problem lies in some information that cannot be easily learned from GE official website. People all over the world once united against General Electric. Let's go back.
Nuclear Weapons: General Electric vs. Humans
Nuclear Weapons: Universality and People
In the United States, from 65438 to 0984, GE became the largest manufacturer of all major nuclear weapon system components. It also sells nuclear weapons to the government. Little is known about the close relationship between GE and the then president.
Ronald Reagan was a spokesman for General Electric Company before he became president.
From 65438 to 0984, Gloria Lauria established an organization called Corporate Responsibility International. The sole purpose is to prevent GE from producing nuclear weapons. In the same year, Gloria's organization launched an international grassroots action. He also made films in 40 countries. Exposed the naked truth behind GE's corporate image.
General Electric makes weapons for profit. Not for patriotism, not for the country and the national flag, but for the benefit.
The campaign also boycotted all general-purpose electronic products. The exercise is quite strong, but will it succeed?
1989, boycotted for three years, and the whole campaign lasted for five years. GE's brand promotion funds have risen to four times the sum of the past four years. To maintain its brand image.
By 1990, 4 million people participated in the boycott of General Electric in the United States alone. The movement also spread to Canada and western Europe. As a result, major retailers have removed GE's light bulbs.
1April 1993, after seven years of resistance, the people finally won. Ge withdrew from the trade related to nuclear weapons, claiming that it was a purely commercial decision. The boycott cost GE more than $50 million in medical equipment sales alone.
At the beginning of the 1984 movement, the United States had 50,000 nuclear warheads on standby. The United States also makes five new ones every day. By the end of the campaign, General Electric Company had completely stopped the production of nuclear weapons. But this is far from the whole story. GE's dark side is actually darker, and the American people are particularly affected.
Ge acquired NBC on 1986. With 1989 alone, GE won nearly $2 billion in arms contracts, and the related equipment was finally used in the Gulf War. Of course, this is not the first time that GE has provided weapons to the US government. The atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima were developed and produced with the help of General Electric. Therefore, NBC's parent company equipped, designed, manufactured and supplied all the major weapons in the Gulf War. Including Tomahawk cruise missiles, as well as stealth bombers and B52 bombers of various systems.
Therefore, money actually played a wrong role in promoting. When NBC reporters and paid consultants brag about the performance of American weapons, they are actually praising the products of General Electric Company that pay for them.
In the hot stage of the Gulf War 199 1, retired army and navy generals frequently appeared on NBC channels. The more they emphasize the necessity of war, the weaker the public's resistance to war. The subsequent contract made Ge rich in the war, and part of this wealth flowed into the pockets of the generals. This kind of thing still doesn't happen much. In 2004, after 13, GE still benefited a lot from military spending, which means that NBC's report on the war in Afghanistan may have been distorted. What is the motivation for doing this? A missile costs more than one million dollars, and a conflict may require the launch of tens of thousands of missiles. You can imagine how profitable this war is.
It's a pity that such a thing happened, but it ended in a favorite ending.
In 20 13, ge sold NBC to Comcast, which was not the most ideal result, but it finally lifted the long-standing conflict of interest.
Conclusion (conclusion)
What can we sum up? We know that GE is a huge company, involving many fields, but in the end, there is a clear distinction between good and evil. GE has made many great achievements and innovations, but its dark side cannot be ignored. In short, on the bright side, although GE is still the largest defense contractor of the US government, it no longer produces weapons and its main business has turned to engine production.
That's it.