PRESS RELEASE
GE NAMES JOHN G. RICE TO HEAD INFRASTRUCTURE
BUSINESS;
LLOYD G. TROTTER NAMED A GE VICE CHAIRMAN,
WILL LEAD INDUSTRIAL
FAIRFIELD, CT. – August 23, 2006 – General Electric Company
Chairman and CEO Jeffrey R. Immelt today announced the
appointments of John G. Rice to lead GE’s Infrastructure
business and Lloyd G. Trotter to head GE’s Industrial business.
Trotter also has been named a GE vice chairman.
“These are two strong and experienced GE leaders with
excellent operating edge and proven ability to grow global
businesses,” Immelt said. “We are fortunate to have a deep pool
of outstanding executives like John and Lloyd to help lead our
Company.”
Rice becomes president and CEO, GE Infrastructure, succeeding
David L. Calhoun, who has taken a position outside GE. Rice has
been a GE vice chairman for the past year, serving as president
and CEO of GE Industrial. A 28-year GE veteran, Rice previously
has run three of the units within Infrastructure, GE Energy, GE
Transportation and GE Oil and Gas.
“John understands our Infrastructure businesses having led
our energy and transportation teams,” Immelt said. “He also
knows our Infrastructure business model -- win with technology,
grow our services businesses and serve customers globally.”
GE’s Infrastructure business includes Aviation, Rail, Energy,
Oil and Gas, Water and the financial verticals associated with
these industries. It is a $47 billion global business that is on
track to grow earnings about 15% in 2006 and positioned for
double-digit growth over the next several years.
Trotter will succeed Rice as head of GE Industrial, which
includes Plastics, Advanced Materials, Consumer & Industrial,
Security, Sensing, Fanuc, Inspection Technologies and Equipment
Services. It is a $35 billion business that is expected to grow
earnings 15% in 2006.
Trotter is a 36-year GE veteran and has led several of the
Industrial units, including GE Consumer & Industrial. For the
past year, Trotter has been executive vice president,
operations, reporting directly to Immelt. In this role, he has
lead efforts to lower structural cost, improve operational
excellence across GE and achieve world-class excellence in GE’s
supply chain.
“Lloyd Trotter is a seasoned GE veteran who knows our
Industrial businesses inside and out,” Immelt said. “He will be
a great leader for a talented team of experienced executives as
we work to refocus the portfolio, expand margins and create
growth opportunities.”
Calhoun was named today the CEO and Chairman of the Executive
Board of VNU, a $4 billion global media and information company.
VNU operates businesses including the ACNielsen retail
measurement and analytics business, the Nielsen Media Research
television ratings business and a portfolio of trade expositions
and publications. Calhoun has been with GE since 1979
serving in a number of key leadership positions.
"GE has been a big part of my life for more than 25 years,”
Calhoun said. “It is a great company of strong businesses and
terrific, talented people. I have had the opportunity to be
trained by the best of the best – Jack Welch and Jeff Immelt.
VNU presents a unique opportunity to take on a new and different
challenge. It was a tough call but the decision was made easier
by the fact that GE has great leaders like John Rice and Lloyd
Trotter to call on. This company won't miss a beat."
Immelt said, “Through his energy and strong leadership
skills, Dave has made tremendous contributions to GE. We wish
him the best.
“This is a natural transition for GE and a testimony to GE’s
continuous commitment to leadership development,” Immelt said.
“We spend more than $1 billion a year on training and
development and have an unyielding commitment to developing a
pipeline of great leaders.”
GE’s Presiding Director Ralph Larsen said, “Having been a CEO
of a major company and now serving as GE’s presiding director, I
am constantly impressed by the depth of GE’s leadership team and
the continuous process rigor of leadership development. GE is
second to none in this area. Having worked with John Rice and
Lloyd Trotter, I know they will be successful in their new
roles.”
The changes are effective immediately. Rice and Trotter’s
bios are available at
www.ge.com/bios.
* * *
GE (NYSE: GE) is Imagination at Work -- a diversified
technology, media and financial services company focused on
solving some of the world’s toughest problems. With products and
services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water
processing and security technology to medical imaging, business
and consumer financing, media content and advanced materials, GE
serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more
than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the
company's Web site at www.ge.com.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This document contains "forward-looking statements" - that
is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this
context, forward-looking statements often address our expected
future business and financial performance, and often contain
words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans,"
"believes," "seeks," or "will." Forward-looking statements by
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uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be
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Contact:
General Electric, Fairfield
Gary Sheffer, 203/373.3476
gary.sheffer@ge.com
