General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) has appointed John Flannery CEO of the global digital industrial giant.
Flannery, who currently leads GE Healthcare as president and CEO, will also join GE’s board of directors. His appointment as a director will take effect on August 1, 2017, and as CEO and chairman on January 1, 2018.
Jeff Immelt, who is current chairman and CEO of the company, will continue working until his retirement on December 31, 2017.
In addition, General Electric announced the promotion of Jeff Bornstein, current CFO, to the position of vice chairman of the company.
“During this time of dynamic global markets and relentless focus on technology and operational excellence, there is no better person to lead GE than John Flannery,” Jack Brennan, lead independent director for GE’s board of directors, said in a statement.
John Flannery is “the right person to lead GE today”: Outgoing CEO
Flannery started his career at General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) by joining GE Capital in 1987. He was a holding a leading position in the corporate restructuring and workout group in the 1990s. He moved to Argentina in 1997 to lead the company’s Equity business in Latin America and the overall GE Capital business for Argentina and Chile.
In 2002, Flannery named CEO of GE Equity and was asked to lead the business through a difficult cycle. Three years later, he moved to Asia where he was responsible for the Asia Pacific region for GE Capital.
According to General Electric, in Asia, Flannery grew the company’s earnings in Japan by 100%, in Korea by 30% and in Australia by 25%.
Flannery moved to India in 2009 to lead the country for GE. During his time in India, Flannery upgraded the leadership team and increased industrial sales by 50% in 2011.
He was tapped in 2013 to lead business development at GE Corporate where he focused on capital allocation for the company and led the acquisition of Alstom.
Flannery joined GE Healthcare in 2014. He has led the turnaround of the business, increasing organic revenue by 5% and margins by 100 bps in 2016, General Electric said.
“John is the right person to lead GE today. He has broad experience across multiple businesses, cycles and geographies. He has a track record of success and led one of our most essential businesses,” Immelt said in a statement.
Meanwhile, shares of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) closed down 1.73% on Tuesday. The stock is down nearly 10% so far this year.