We couldn’t have written this book without the Wall Street Journal. Ted started covering GE for the paper in 2014, when the corporate bureau took a chance on a metro reporter who’d never even listened to an earnings call and let him cover one of the country’s most prominent industrial companies. When Tom succeeded Ted in the spring of 2017, he met Jeff Immelt for the first time just ten weeks before the latter resigned as CEO. This book tells the story of the months and years that led up to that moment.
The Journal newsroom is a place of enthusiastic collaboration, unstinting dedication to balance, and cherished integrity. In the corporate bureau in New York and in Washington, we were given the freedom to chase the most important stories and break old molds in how we delivered them to readers. We benefited at every turn from the trust and deep commitment to the story of General Electric and its people on the part of our editors. Chief among them were Jamie Heller, Paul Beckett, Karen Pensiero, and Matt Murray.
The people of General Electric, past and present, were our greatest source of information, our best check on assumptions, and our reminder that the dollars and cents of this corporate story had real human consequences. As a rule, GE people love their company, and almost to a person they believe that the company’s essence resides in its rank-and-file workforce, whatever the successes or failings of upper management. They ache for the company’s revival. We are especially indebted to those who spoke to us in spite of the pain they felt at reliving a disappointing period in the history of the company they love.
Countless others have contributed to our coverage over the years and helped make this book possible, including an army of people behind the scenes. Our colleagues were a source of constant support and encouragement and their contributions are too numerous to list in full. Among the Wall Street Journal journalists who played essential roles in telling the GE story were Marcelo Prince, Andrew Dowell, Kate Linebaugh, Joann S. Lublin, David Benoit, The Danas (Cimilluca and Mattioli) of the fearsome deals team, and Matthew Rose.
We are grateful to others at the paper who provided critical support: Paul Vigna, for his unending encouragement and coaching; Alex Martin, who showed us how to tell the story, put in painstaking hours and contributed his vertiginous vocabulary (and some spackle); Eric Lupfer, our agent, for his persistence, wise guidance on structure, and generous encouragement when we struggled to find our way; and Rick Wolff, our editor, for his belief in the story, steady hand and eye, and positive reactions to nervously submitted drafts. We are deeply indebted as well to Olivia Bartz in HMH Editorial for her efforts on the book, as well as to Loren Isenberg for her careful and meticulous legal review. Thanks also to Laura Brady, Lisa Glover, Cindy Buck, and Katie Kimmerer for their hard work on the production of the manuscript, and also a big shout-out to Emma Gordon for directing the publicity of Lights Out.
No one helped us find this story more than our direct editors on our coverage of General Electric. Andrew Dowell, Marcelo Prince, and Kate Linebaugh were the gatekeepers who decided when a raw observation was a story, and our defenders when the story brought on the substantial wrath of corporate PR.
Drew is a dynamo: fair and scrupulous, but unflinching, unafraid, and unflagging. He gave every reporter with a half-baked idea the command he or she wanted and dreaded—“just start writing”—then stayed with us to the last to ensure that the resulting story was smart, tough, and true.
Marcelo’s patience, wisdom, and unyielding belief in our abilities was fuel to our efforts, and his quick eye on deadlines saved us many times. Unflappable in the face of pressure, he always gave us free rein to do the job we needed to, secure in the knowledge that he would help us keep from tripping ourselves.
As a former occupant of the beat we shared, Kate Linebaugh knew GE as well as either of us. She couldn’t have been more generous, whether with guidance about the company or her willingness to dive into any story to lend a hand. And she was blunt when she thought we had it wrong. Her friendship, leadership, and tough love were, and are, invaluable.
Tom: I want to thank everyone who helped me walk a rather unorthodox path through this world, beginning with the loving foundation and continuing support provided by my parents and brother Jay. I’m grateful to my in-laws for their assistance over the years. My wife Virginia provided unending encouragement and love through this process; she is my secret ingredient in life. Our children Maggie, Henry, and Frannie are the light of our lives. They keep me sane and smiling.
Ted: I’m lucky to be the child and the sibling of readers, and grateful to my family for their support in all things, above and beyond how they helped us write this book. I am even more fortunate to have in-laws, and a grandfather-in-law, who have been eager to help shoulder domestic responsibilities as I disappeared into the library for hours. Mostly, I am grateful for my wife Annie and my son Caleb. I couldn’t have done this without their love, and I would not be here without them.