Monday, Dec. 03, 2001
Jeffrey Immelt
General Electric CEO
Can General Electric, the world's most profitable industrial company, continue its stunning record of innovation and profit? That's up to Immelt, 45, handpicked successor to the most influential CEO ever, Jack Welch. Immelt made his name boosting the fortunes of GE's Medical Systems business, and barely three months into his new job, he is already casting a large shadow. Despite the sour global economy, a debilitating advertising slump at NBC and a serious downturn in his jet- engine business, Immelt paid $2 billion in October for Spanish- language TV network Telemundo.