Overpaid

GE CEO's Strategic Errors

Immelt's job security becomes spotty at best.

In a well-received speech on leadership at West Point, General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt said that "the richest people made the most mistakes with the least accountability," a line that could actually apply to himself. Investors feel irked that under Immelt's leadership, the company has missed earnings, lost its AAA credit rating, acquired a medical company in a troubled deal, and gotten stiffed by Comcast in the NBC Universal sale. As if that isn't enough, Immelt sold Rockefeller Center space to save money, but now has to rent space to stash employees. He also relocated NBC-U's digital business to New Jersey for a tax credit, a move that drove away staff. On the upside, GE revenue has grown an average of 8 percent per year under Immelt, although stock value has dropped 61 percent. The final straw may be the federal fraud lawsuit against him for allegedly rigging GE's stock price and cooking the books to make profits appear steady back to his first year as chief in 2002. As an unnamed GE bondholder put it, "the GE board is starting to ask themselves questions about Immelt." Immelt recently made Forbes' overpaid bosses list. His average salary is $14.4 million per year.