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How Jeff Immelt is tarnishing Jack Welch's self-image

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Forbes reports that General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) ex-CEO Jack Welch is really angry with his successor Jeff Immelt. I don't know whether Welch still holds shares in GE but if he does, he can't be happy that they've fallen 20% since his hand-picked successor took over. But beyond the financial pain, Welch is suffering from a badly bruised ego -- that's because he prides himself on picking people. And he clearly blew it when he selected Immelt.

I saw Welch this morning sitting in the same spot I was in on GE's CNBC set last February during a stint on Squawk Box. And Welch had some choice words for Immelt. Forbes reports that Welch said "I'd be shocked beyond belief and I'd get a gun out and shoot him if he doesn't make what he promised now. Just deliver the earnings. Tell them you're going to grow 12 percent and deliver 12 percent."

I think the biggest problem for Welch is that it's become so obvious what a huge mistake he made in picking Immelt. As Welch said: "Here's the screw up: You made a promise that you'd deliver this and you missed three weeks later. Jeff has a credibility issue. He's getting his ass kicked. He apologized."

I've written about Immelt's mediocre performance since 2006. Maybe now that Jack Welch is chiming in, things will start to happen to boost GE's share price.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He owns GE shares.

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Last updated: July 06, 2009: 04:11 PM

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