Business and Policy Leader Events
GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt Discusses Shrinking Economy with CNBC's Maria Bartiromo
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"I've already seen 20 things I never thought I'd see in a lifetime, and I've already done 10 things I never thought I'd have to do. And I've got the next 10 lined up," said Jeff Immelt, General Electric Chairman and CEO, in regards to the current financial turmoil. On October 24, at NYU Stern for a GE Live event entitled, "Winning in Today's Environment," Immelt spoke to nearly 300 NYU Stern MBA students as well as hundreds more at six other business schools across the globe — London Business School, IESE in Spain, UVA-Darden, Thunderbird, UN,C and Emory — where the event was broadcast live.
Interviewed by NYU alumna and Trustee Maria Bartiromo, host and managing editor of CNBC's "The Wall Street Journal Report with Maria Bartiromo" as well as the anchor of "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo," Immelt discussed how GE is navigating the credit markets, investing in technology and alternative energy sources, and managing globalization.
As financial markets are experiencing the greatest turmoil in five decades, tightening credit for corporate and consumer borrowers, Immelt said that GE plans to use the Federal Reserve's new short-term funding facility. He noted that he is encouraged by some improvements he's seeing in the system's liquidity: "There's going to have to be some recognition of all the liquidity and all the money that's been flooded into the marketplace. It's just going to take a while to get that through the system."
Immelt said GE's continued financing of its infrastructure divisions will keep the company growing. "Government is going to want to see business solve some big problems out there," he argued. "And some of the big problems are infrastructure problems. It's health care, it's energy, it's infrastructure. So the financing of these, and the technology that goes with them, is going to be one of the growth areas of the future."
The GE Live event was preceded by a breakfast where students had the opportunity to meet with NYU Stern alumni now working at GE as well as other GE executives and recruiters.
Interviewed by NYU alumna and Trustee Maria Bartiromo, host and managing editor of CNBC's "The Wall Street Journal Report with Maria Bartiromo" as well as the anchor of "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo," Immelt discussed how GE is navigating the credit markets, investing in technology and alternative energy sources, and managing globalization.
As financial markets are experiencing the greatest turmoil in five decades, tightening credit for corporate and consumer borrowers, Immelt said that GE plans to use the Federal Reserve's new short-term funding facility. He noted that he is encouraged by some improvements he's seeing in the system's liquidity: "There's going to have to be some recognition of all the liquidity and all the money that's been flooded into the marketplace. It's just going to take a while to get that through the system."
Immelt said GE's continued financing of its infrastructure divisions will keep the company growing. "Government is going to want to see business solve some big problems out there," he argued. "And some of the big problems are infrastructure problems. It's health care, it's energy, it's infrastructure. So the financing of these, and the technology that goes with them, is going to be one of the growth areas of the future."
The GE Live event was preceded by a breakfast where students had the opportunity to meet with NYU Stern alumni now working at GE as well as other GE executives and recruiters.