Man Who Broke Capitalism
by David Gelles · first published 2022
16mentions
5recommended by
16HN commenters
2022–2026first – last mentioned
31% recommend69% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Focused account of Jack Welch's GE years and how his shareholder-value approach spread through corporate America; useful for understanding where modern corporate management came from, with some proposed fixes.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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> How could such a group steal enough money to ruin the US? Some remedial reading for you: https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Broke-Capitalism-America/dp/1...
on “Boeing chief must have engineering background, Emirates boss says” ↗…maximizing shareholder value is something that happened quite recently. A lot of people trace that to Jack Welch who took over General Electric in the 80's I highly recommend https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Broke-Capitalism-America_and/... if you are curious about it.The book documents well the transformation which gave us the modern version of US companies.
on “Oracle Java police start knocking on Fortune 200's doors for first time” ↗“ The Man Who Broke Capitalism” by David Gelles offers great insight into the man and his actions. It actually offers some solutions to the problems Welch caused. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59366216-the-man-who-bro...
on “US sanctions Boeing for sharing information about 737 MAX 9 investigation” ↗…the wings, perhaps the thing Boeing did best. The 787 ended up way over budget and three years late. That's good management? This seems like a good follow up book too: https://www.amazon.ca/Man-Who-Broke-Capitalism-America_and/d...
on “NASA announces Boeing Starliner crew will return on SpaceX Crew-9” ↗Recently read The Man Who Broke Capitalism by David Gelles which is an excellent review of the Welch years, how he worked, and how he sent his minions out across the corporate world to wreak havoc. Wonderful read and really provides perspective…
on “Power Failure: The downfall of General Electric” ↗There was a recent book about Jack Welch : The Man Who Broke Capitalism: How Jack Welch Gutted the Heartland and Crushed the Soul of Corporate America—and How to Undo His Legacy https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59366216-the-man-who-bro...
on “GE is laying off 20% of its workforce devoted to onshore wind power” ↗…world’s most valuable company, before the stock price collapsed during the great financial crisis and GE was broken up. >The assessment of author David Gelles, in his critical biography of Welch, The Man Who Broke Capitalism, is that “instead of trying to fix American manufacturing, he effectively abandoned it, and would soon start shuttering factories around the country and shipping jobs overseas.” Welch once stated, “Ideally,…
on “America's advanced manufacturing problem and how to fix it” ↗Are we talking about this Jack Welch? https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Broke-Capitalism-America_and/...
on “AI Discourse Is Talentless Business Students Trying to Give Young Engineers PTSD” ↗> Recently read The Man Who Broke Capitalism by David Gelles which is an excellent review of the Welch years, how he worked, and how he sent his minions out across the corporate world to wreak havoc. The parts about Boeing in that book are... rough.…
on “Power Failure: The downfall of General Electric” ↗https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Broke-Capitalism-America_and/...
on “U.S. Reenters the Nuclear Fuel Game” ↗One of my favorite radio shows / podcasts (Fresh Air) interviewed the author of "The Man Who Broke Capitalism" back in June: https://www.npr.org/2022/05/31/1102165413/did-jack-welch-bre...
on “GE is laying off 20% of its workforce devoted to onshore wind power” ↗Interestingly enough, penny pushing also destroys capitalism, see The Man Who Broke Capitalism: How Jack Welch Gutted the Heartland and Crushed the Soul of Corporate America―and How to Undo His Legacy [1]. [1] https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Man-Who-Broke-Cap...
on “ASML EUV Lithography Machine Could Keep Moore’s Law on Track” ↗The Man Who Broke Capitalism: How Jack Welch Gutted the Heartland and Crushed the Soul of Corporate America―and How to Undo His Legacy
on “A Man Who Broke Capitalism: How Jack Welch Gutted the Heartland” ↗I'm currently reading "When McKinsey Comes to Town" and just finished "The Man Who Broke Capitalism" about Jack Welch and GE.
on “The coming long-run slowdown in corporate profit growth and stock returns [pdf] (2023)” ↗Related: A Man Who Broke Capitalism – Did Jack Welch Destroy Corporate America? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33416436 - Nov 2022 (20 comments) A Man Who Broke Capitalism: How Jack Welch Gutted the Heartland - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40838966…
on “Jack Welch, the Man Who Broke Capitalism (2022)” ↗