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General Electric plans to break itself up into three companies.



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Image General Electric in Schenectady, N.Y. Industrial conglomerates have fallen out of favor with investors. Credit…Mohamed Sadek for The New York TimesGeneral Electric, the iconic industrial corporation of the late 20th century, once a powerful conglomerate renowned for its management prowess, is making a final break with its storied past.The 129-year-old company announced on Tuesday that it planned to split itself into three publicly traded businesses, a remarkable change at a company whose reach into American life once extended from light bulbs in the home to the engines on jet airplanes.In a conference call with analysts, H. Lawrence Culp, an outsider brought in as chief executive three years ago, described the planned breakup as a “defining moment” for G.E. and the culmination of his effort to remake it as a “more focused, simpler, stronger high-tech industrial company.”G.E.’s plan is to spin off its health care division in early 2023 and its energy businesses a year later. That would leave its aviation unit as its remaining business, which would continue to be led by Mr. Culp.In speaking to analysts, Mr. Culp also portrayed the move as being in step with the times, as other industry conglomerates have streamlined. The spinoff plan, he said, “heightens focus and accountability” and “just makes everybody better.”Industrial conglomerates have fallen somewhat out of favor. In the last few years, G.E.’s big German rival Siemens has spun off its health care and energy businesses. And Honeywell International, another wide-ranging industrial company, has sold off some operations. But none have undergone as drastic an overhaul as G.E. has planned.In its heyday, the G.E. corporate empire was fueled by rising profits. For years, it used that money to expand into new businesses. It owned NBC, powered locomotives and developed medical imaging technology. Its complexity was a part of the company’s pitch to investors.G.E. also manufactured executives. The company became a training ground for them, creating a growing cadre of star managers. They were selected, trained and moved from one business …

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