Bloomberg Businessweek, commonly and formerly known as BusinessWeek, is a weekly business magazine published by Bloomberg L.P. It is currently headquartered in New York City.

History[link]

Businessweek was first published in September 1929, only weeks before the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Its original purpose was to provide information and opinions as to what was happening in the business world, at the time. The president of McGraw-Hill Publishing, Malcolm Muir stated, "The Business Week always has a point of view, and usually a strong opinion, both of which it does not hesitate to express. And all the way through, we hope you will discover it is possible to write sanely and intelligently of business without being pompous or ponderous."^[2]

Initially, the magazine published sections that included topics such as marketing, labor, finance, and management, among others.^[2] Consequently, Businessweek pioneered the action of covering national political issues that directly impacted the business world. In 1950, the magazine published its first executive pay survey, which it still does today.^[2]

Stephen B. Shepard served as the editor in chief of the magazine from 1984 until 2005, when he was chosen to be the founding dean of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.^[3] Stephen J. Adler of The Wall Street Journal was named to succeed Shepard as editor in chief at Businessweek.^[4]

Like nearly all magazines, Businessweek suffered from a decline in advertising during the late-2000s recession. Print revenues halved, to US$60 million, between 2006 and 2009, and online revenues only grew marginally, to $20.5 million.^[5] In July 2009, it was reported that McGraw-Hill was trying to sell Businessweek and had hired Evercore Partners to conduct the sale. Because of the magazine's liabilities it was suggested that it might change hands for the nominal price of $1 to an investor who was willing to incur losses turning the magazine around.^[6]

In late 2009, Bloomberg L.P. bought the magazine — for a reported $2 million to $5 million plus assumption of liabilities — and renamed it Bloomberg BusinessWeek.^[7][8] Adler resigned as editor-in-chief and was replaced by Josh Tyrangiel, who had been deputy managing editor for Time Magazine.^[9] In early 2010, the magazine title was restyled Bloomberg Businessweek (with a lowercase "w") as part of a redesign.^[10][11]

Competitors[link]

The magazine's primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Forbes magazine^[2], published bi-weekly, and Fortune, published on a tri-weekly basis.

Advertising[link]

Since 1975, Businessweek has carried more annual advertising pages than any other magazine in the United States.^[12]

During the 1990s, Businessweek's advertising campaign expanded, creating efforts to try to solicit new readers from outside the business world. The magazine's then-editor in chief, Steven B. Shepard, helped implement an international edition of the magazine, expanding global reach and interest, and helped to report new and emerging business trends, such as the notion of the New Economy.^[2] Weekly readership of Businessweek is over 4.8 million, in 140 different countries.^[13] In 2011 Businessweek's ad revenue went up 65.3% in comparison to the previous year.^[14]

College rankings[link]

Since 1988, Businessweek has published annual rankings of United States business school MBA programs.^[15] In 2006, it also started publishing annual rankings of undergraduate business programs.^[16]

Non-U.S. editions[link]

Businessweek discontinued its European and Asian editions in 2005. A December 7, 2005, press release^[17] issued by McGraw-Hill stated that it had decided to deliver a single global edition instead of providing separate regional ones. However, in 2011 a Polish edition, named Bloomberg Businessweek Polska, will be re-launched after a 6-year break.

There is also an Arabic edition launched in October 2005 by InfoPro Management sarl (InfoPro), a publishing and market research company based in Beirut, Lebanon and The McGraw Hill Companies, Inc.^[18]

Mobile version[link]

In April 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek launched an iPad version of the magazine available as an iTunes subscription.^[19][20] A version of the application for iPhone and iPod Touch was added later and there are now over 100,000 subscribers on the mobile platform.^[20] On May 1st, 2012, the application was awarded a Webby Award in the "News (Tablet & All Other Devices)" category.^[20]

See also[link]

• International Design Excellence Awards
• List of United States magazines

References[link]

Jack Welch
Born	John Francis Welch, Jr. (1935-11-19) November 19, 1935 (age 76) Peabody, Massachusetts, U.S.
Residence	Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation	Professor at the Jack Welch Management Institute Author
Known for	Former CEO of General Electric
Net worth	$720 million (2006)[1]
Spouse	Carolyn Welch, Jane Welch, Suzy Welch

John Francis "Jack" Welch, Jr. (born (1935-11-19)November 19, 1935) is an American chemical engineer, business executive, and author. He was Chairman and CEO of General Electric between 1981 and 2001. During his tenure at GE, the company's value rose 4000%.^[2] In 2006 Welch's net worth was estimated at $720 million.^[1] Welch is the founder of the Jack Welch Management Institute, an educational institution established in 2009.^[3]

Career[link]

Early life[link]

Jack Welch was born in Peabody, Massachusetts to John, a Boston & Maine Railroad conductor, and Grace, a homemaker.

Welch attended Salem High School and then University of Massachusetts Amherst, graduating in 1957 with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering. He is a member of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity.

He received a M.S. and Ph.D at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1960.^[4]

Welch joined General Electric in 1960. He worked as a junior chemical engineer in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, at a salary of $10,500. While at GE, he blew off the roof of the factory, and was almost fired for doing so.^[5] In 1961, Welch planned to quit his job as junior engineer because he was dissatisfied with the raise offered to him and was unhappy with the bureaucracy he observed at GE. Welch was persuaded to remain at GE by Reuben Gutoff, an executive at the company, who promised him that he would help create the small company atmosphere Welch desired.^[6]

Welch was named a vice president of GE in 1972. He became senior vice president in 1977 and vice chairman in 1979. Welch became GE's youngest chairman and CEO in 1981, succeeding Reginald H. Jones. By 1982, Welch had dismantled much of the earlier management put together by Jones.

Tenure as CEO of GE[link]

Through the 1980s, Welch sought to streamline GE. In 1981 he made a speech in New York City called "Growing fast in a slow-growth economy".^[7] Later, in an interview with the Financial Times on the Global financial crisis of 2008–2009, Welch said, “On the face of it, shareholder value is the dumbest idea in the world. Shareholder value is a result, not a strategy... your main constituencies are your employees, your customers and your products.”^[8] Welch worked to eradicate perceived inefficiency by trimming inventories and dismantling the bureaucracy that had almost led him to leave GE in the past. He closed factories, reduced payrolls and cut lackluster old-line units.^[9] Welch's public philosophy was that a company should be either #1 or #2 in a particular industry, or else leave it completely. Welch's strategy was later adopted by other CEOs across corporate America.

Each year, Welch would fire the bottom 10% of his managers. He earned a reputation for brutal candor in his meetings with executives. He rewarded those in the top 20% with bonuses and stock options. He also expanded the broadness of the stock options program at GE from just top executives to nearly one third of all employees. Welch is also known for destroying the nine-layer management hierarchy and bringing a sense of informality to the company.^{[citation needed]}

During the early 1980s he was dubbed "Neutron Jack" (in reference to the neutron bomb) for eliminating employees while leaving buildings intact. In Jack: Straight From The Gut, Welch states that GE had 411,000 employees at the end of 1980, and 299,000 at the end of 1985. Of the 112,000 who left the payroll, 37,000 were in businesses that GE sold, and 81,000 were reduced in continuing businesses. In return, GE had increased its market capital tremendously. Welch reduced basic research, and closed or sold off businesses that were under-performing.

In 1986, GE acquired RCA. RCA's corporate headquarters were located in Rockefeller Center; Welch subsequently took up an office in the now GE Building at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The RCA acquisition resulted in GE selling off RCA properties to other companies and keeping NBC as part of the GE portfolio of businesses. During the 1990s, Welch shifted GE business from manufacturing to financial services through numerous acquisitions.

Welch adopted Motorola's Six Sigma quality program in late 1995. In 1980, the year before Welch became CEO, GE recorded revenues of roughly $26.8 billion. In 2000, the year before he left, the revenues increased to nearly $130 billion. The company had gone from a market value of $14 billion to one of more than $410 billion at the end of 2004, making it the most valuable company in the world.

At the time of his retirement in 2001, Welch received a salary of $4 million a year, followed by his retirement plan of $8 million a year, which included GE's $80,000 per month luxury apartment in Trump Tower (New York City), free food and wine, access to a $300,000 per month B737 corporate jet, VIP tickets to the Metropolitan Opera, the Knicks, Wimbledon, the US Open (tennis) and the Red Sox, an office and a secretary in the GE building and a limousine with driver.^[10] In 1999 he was named "Manager of the Century" by Fortune magazine.^[11]

There was a lengthy and well-publicized succession planning saga prior to his retirement between James McNerney, Robert Nardelli, and Jeffrey Immelt, with Immelt eventually selected to succeed him as Chairman and CEO. Nardelli became the CEO of Home Depot until his resignation in early 2007, and until recently, was the CEO of Chrysler, while McNerney became CEO of 3M until he left that post to serve in the same capacity at Boeing.

Criticism[link]

Some industry analysts claim that Welch is given excessive credit for GE's success. They say that individual managers are largely responsible for the company's success.^[12] For example, GE Capital, under Gary C. Wendt, contributed nearly 40% of the company's total earnings while NBC, and Robert C. Wright worked to turn the network around, leading to five years of double-digit earnings growth. Some say that Welch did not rescue GE from great losses as the company had 16% annual earnings growth during the tenure of his predecessor, Reginald H. Jones. According to Businessweek, critics of Welch have questioned whether the pressure he places on employees may have lead them to "cut corners", which may have contributed to controversies over defense-contracting, or the Kidder, Peabody & Co. bond-trading scheme in the early 1990s.^[6]

Welch has received criticism for a lack of compassion for the middle class and working class. By his actions during acquisitions and wholesale shutdowns of GE business units Welch proved that his technique of only keeping the units your company is "good" at you can maximize ROI for the short term.^{[citation needed]} Welch has stated that he is not concerned with the discrepancy between the salaries of top-paid CEOs and those of average workers. When asked about the issue of excessive CEO pay, Welch has said that such allegations are "outrageous" and has vehemently opposed proposed SEC regulations affecting executive compensation. Countering the public uproar over excessive executive pay (including backdating stock options, golden parachutes for nonperformance, and extravagant retirement packages), Welch stated that CEO compensation should continue to be dictated by the free market, without interference from government or other outside agencies.^[13] In addition, Welch is a vocal opponent of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.^[14]

Post-GE career[link]

Following Welch's retirement from GE, he became an adviser to private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and to the chief executive of IAC, Barry Diller.^[15][16] In addition to his consulting and advisory roles, Welch has been active on the public speaking circuit, and co-wrote a popular column for BusinessWeek with his wife, Suzy, for four years until November 2009. The column was syndicated by The New York Times.^[16][17] In 2005, he published Winning, a book about management co-written with Suzy Welch, which reached #1 on The Wall Street Journal bestseller list,^[18] and appeared on New York Times' Best Seller list.^[15][16] Since January 2012, Welch and Suzy Welch have written a biweekly column for Reuters and Fortune.^[19][20]

Personal life[link]

He had four children with his first wife, Carolyn. They divorced amicably in April 1987 after 28 years of marriage. His second wife, Jane Beasley, was a former mergers-and-acquisitions lawyer. She married Jack in April 1989, and they divorced in 2003. While Welch had crafted a prenuptial agreement, Beasley insisted on a ten-year time limit to its applicability, and thus she was able to leave the marriage with an amount believed to be around $180 million.^[21]

Welch's third wife, Suzy Wetlaufer, co-authored his 2005 book Winning as Suzy Welch. Wetlaufer served briefly as the editor-in-chief of the Harvard Business Review. Welch's wife at the time, Jane Beasley, found out about an affair between Wetlaufer and Welch. Beasley informed the review and Wetlaufer was forced to resign^[22] in early 2002 after admitting to having been involved in an affair with Welch while preparing an interview with him for the magazine.

On January 25, 2006, Welch gave his name to Sacred Heart University's College of Business, which will be known as the "John F. Welch College of Business".^[23] Since September 2006, Welch has been teaching a class at the MIT Sloan School of Management to a hand-picked group of 30 MBA students with a demonstrated career interest in leadership.^[24]

In 2009, Welch founded the Jack Welch Management Institute, a program at Chancellor University that offered an online executive MBA degree. The institute was acquired by Strayer University in 2011.^[25] Welch has been actively involved with the curriculum, faculty and students at the online business school since its launch.^[3][26][27]

On March 11, 2010, Welch appeared as himself in the fourteenth episode of the fourth season of the hit NBC sitcom 30 Rock. In the episode, he governed the sale of NBC Universal to a fictional Philadelphia-based cable company, Kabletown, a parody of the actual acquisition of NBC Universal from General Electric by Comcast in November 2009.

Opinions[link]

Jack Welch identifies as a Republican.^[28] He is also a global warming skeptic.^[29] Yet he has said that every business must embrace green products and green ways of doing business, "whether you believe in global warming or not...because the world wants these products."^[30]

See also[link]

• Vitality curve

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Jack: Straight From The Gut, (ISBN 0-446-69068-6)
• Winning by Jack and Suzy Welch - HarperCollins (April 2005), (ISBN 0-06-075394-3)
• Winning: The Answers by Jack and Suzy Welch - Harper 2006, (ISBN 0-00725264-1)
• Jack Welch and the GE way : management insights and leadership secrets of the legendary CEO by Robert Slater (ISBN 0070581045)
• The New GE: How Jack Welch Revived an American Institution, (ISBN 1-55623-670-0)
• Jacked Up: The Inside Story of how Jack Welch Talked GE into Becoming the World's Greatest Company by Bill Lane - McGraw Hill (2008), (ISBN 978-0-07-154410-8)
• At Any Cost: Jack Welch, General Electric, and the Pursuit of Profit, (ISBN 0-375-70567-8)

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jack Welch

Official[link]

• Official website

Articles[link]

• IMNO Interviews Jack Welch Nov 2004

Videos[link]

• Jack Welch Interview with Bill Hybels at The Global Leadership Summit 2010
• Jack Welch on Leadership
• April 27, 2005 - Mr. Welch speaks about creating candor in the workplace at the Stanford Graduate School of Business
• April 12, 2005 - A Conversation with Jack Welch at MIT Sloan School of Management
• October 16, 2001 - Mr. Welch speaks at the Kellogg School of Management
• 2000 (?) - Mr. Welch at the Fairfield University-Charles F. Dolan School of Business
• September 12, 2005 Mr. Welch speaks at the Rotman School of management in Toronto
• Jack Welch talks about Leadership and the State of Corporate America at UCLA Anderson School of Management
• October 16, 2001 - Jack Welch at University of Chicago Graduate School of Business

Other[link]

• Bio for Jack Welch as featured speaker at the 2011 World Business Forum