| Date | Event |
|---|
| 1981 | Jack Welch whose management style would leave a lasting effect upon General Electric and corporate America, replacesReginald Jones as CEO |
| 1982 | CFM International'sCFM56 is introduced; The CFM56 would go on to dominate the engine market for short haulairliner[5] |
| 1983 | General Electric begins sponsoringHorizons atEPCOT Center which ends in 1993 |
| 1984 | GE spins off its commercial computer graphics products and services Genigraphics Operation to theGenigraphics Corporation |
| 1984 | GE acquiresEmployers Reinsurance Corporation for $1 billion[8] |
| 1985 | GEnie, one of the pioneeringonline services, was developed using extra processor cycles onGeneral Electric Information Services mainframes |
| 1986 | General Electric re-acquires RCA, primarily for theNBC television network and sells the remaining components to Thomson—along with General Electric's consumer electronics division— andBertelsmann. GE also acquiredKidder-Peabody as part of GE Capital.[9] The company starts sponsoringThe McLaughlin Group, which lasted 16 years.[10][11] |
| 1987 | GE closed down air conditioner plant in Appliance Park in Louisville, Kentucky and sold their room air conditioner and rotary compressor plant in Columbia, Tennessee, toFedders. GE also sold the residential and commercial air conditioner plant in Tyler, Texas toTrane. |
| 1988 | General Electric begins sponsorship ofIllumiNations, a series of fireworks displays, atEPCOT Center which continues until 1998 |
| 1989 | TheConsumer News and Business Channel, or CNBC, is formed to provide business news tocable television subscribers[5] |
| 1992 | GE Power controls acquires the company Agut S.A in Spain.[12] |
| 1993 | GE Aerospace Division sold toMartin Marietta, nowLockheed Martin |
| 1996 | MSNBC is formed with partnerMicrosoft, to compete with theCable News Network[5] |
| 1996 | GEnie is sold to Yovelle, now part ofIDT Corp. |
| 1996 | General Electric sponsors theMain Street Electrical Parade for the farewell season atDisneyland |
| 1999 | Harkening back to theEasy-Bake Oven, General Electric introduces theAdvantium oven, which useshalogen lights to cook food[5] |
| 1999 | Montgomery Ward exitsChapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and becomes a subsidiary ofGE Capital, a major creditor |
| 1999 | GEnie, General Electric's nascent Internet Service Provider, is shut down. |
| 2000 | Montgomery Ward folded byGE Capital due to declining sales |
| 2001 | General Electric andHoneywell agree to merge, however it is blocked byEuropean UnionM&A chiefMario Monti.[13] |
| 2001 | Jeffrey Immelt becomes CEO, replacing Jack Welch |
| 2001 | NBC acquiresTelemundo, one of the leadingSpanish language television networks |
| 2002 | GE stops sponsoring the public television programThe McLaughlin Group after 16 years.[11] |
| 2002 | The finance committee of theboard is dissolved[8] |
| 2003 | GE Healthcare acquires Instrumentarium.[14] |
| 2003 | GE Capital acquiresTransamerica Finance fromAEGON, who retained the rest ofTransamerica Corporation |
| 2004 | NBC acquires the entertainment assets ofVivendi Universal, excludingUniversal Music and formsNBC Universal, of which General Electric owns 80% |
| 2004 | GE Healthcare acquires Amersham plc |
| 2004 | GE Capital acquiresDillard's credit card unit for US$1.25 billion |
| 2004 | GE sells 60% stake inGE Capital International Services (GECIS) to private equity companies, Oak Hill Capital Partners and General Atlantic, for $500 million |
| 2004 | Genworth Financial formed from General Electric'slife andmortgage insurance assets |
| 2004 | GE Security acquiresInVision Technologies, a leading manufacturer of airport security equipment.[15] On July 1, 2009, theEuropean Union approves the sale of 81 percent of GE's airport security and biometrics division to French companySafran.[16] |
| 2005 | GE Commercial Finance acquires the financial assets ofBombardier, a Canadian aircraft manufacturer for US$1.4 billion[17] |
| 2006 | GE Healthcare acquiresIDX Systems, a medical software firm, for US$1.2 billion |
| 2006 | GE Advanced Materials division is sold toApollo Management for US$3.8 billion |
| 2006 | GE Water & Process Technologies acquiresZenon Environmental Systems for $758 million |
| 2006 | GE Money buysSuperbank's $500 million lending portfolio[18] |
| 2007 | GE Consumer & Industrial acquiresMicrowave Data Systems for US$600 million |
| 2007 | GE-Aviation acquiresSmiths Aerospace for £2.4 billion |
| 2007 | GE Oil & Gas acquiresVetco Gray for US$1.9 billion.[19][20] |
| 2007 | GE Plastics is sold toSABIC for US$11.6 billion.[21] |
| 2008 | GE Oil & Gas acquires Hydril Pressure & Control for US$1.12 billion fromTenaris, who retains possession of Hydril Premium Connections.[22][23] |
| 2008 | GE Co. acquires Vital Signs Inc. for US$860 million[24] |
| 2009 | GE buysVivendi's stake inNBC Universal and sell a controlling interest of the company toComcast, with GE retaining a 49 percent interest in the joint venture[25] |
| 2009 | GE acquires Norway-based turbine manufacturerScanWind.[26] |
| 2010 | GE enters negotiations with Comcast Corporation to sell the NBC Universal unit; Clearance by theFCC andUS Attorney General are required |
| 2011 | GE completes sale of NBC Universal withComcast. GE still owns 49% of The Venture |
| 2013 | GE sells the remaining part of NBC Universal toComcast. |
| 2013 | GE sells Vital Signs divisionCarefusion for 500M USD. |
| 2014 | GE agreed to sell their appliance business toElectrolux[27] but the deal was not completed.[28] |
| 2015 | Due to antitrust issues, GE cancels the appliance business deal with Electrolux after strong oppositions from antitrust regulators[29] |
| 2015 | GE completes Alstom Power acquisition. |
| 2016 | GE agreed to sell its appliance business to QingdaoHaier for $5.4 billion including the 48.4% of shares it held inMabe, a Mexican appliance maker[30] |
| 2016 | GE acquires ShipExpress[31] |
| 2016 | General Electric moved their global headquarters fromFairfield, Connecticut, to theSouth Boston Waterfront in August 2016.[32] |
| 2016 | GE Digital acquires ServiceMax[33] |
| 2017 | GE acquiresBaker Hughes and merges it withGE Oil and Gas to form Baker Hughes a GE Company.[34] |
| 2018 | S&P Dow Jones Indices announces that another company will replace General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE) in theDow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) effective prior to the open of trading on June 26.[35] |
| 2019 | GE sellsGE Transportation toWabtec and terminates ownership of former said company after 112 years of ownership. |
| 2021 | GE announces split of company into three separate concerns—GE HealthCare,GE Vernova, andGE Aerospace—with the healthcare and energy (Vernova) divisions being spun off and the company pivoting to aviation by rebranding as GE Aerospace.[36][37] |
| 2023 | GE completes spin-off ofGE HealthCare[37] |
| 2024 | GE completes spin-off ofGE Vernova. The company is now known asGE Aerospace and ceases to exist as a conglomerate, the General Electric Company name retired after 130 years.[36][37] |
