Word: welched
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Welch has a weakness, it may be that he is not a good judge of people," says Warren Bennis, a management professor at the University of Southern California business school. "Robert Wright was the wrong guy to put in charge of NBC. He didn't know anything about television, or the creative side. NBC has suffered under GE's management...
...sell the network swiftly. "The record speaks for itself," a high-level insider says. "NBC may be well placed: it's profitable and having the second best year in its history. But its performance on the screen doesn't measure up. The problem is with the people Welch put in and left in place. It was Robert Wright who picked Leno over Letterman, and you see how that turned out. The loss of Letterman was the dumbest thing to happen in TV history...
...Welch is candid about his interest in striking some sort of deal involving NBC. While he refuses to comment on reports that GE is considering the sale of a 49% stake in the network to Time Warner, he acknowledges that "we've had discussions about every combination with everyone." That includes Walt Disney chairman Michael Eisner, who also has been eyeing NBC. Welch described his conversations with executives like Time Warner chairman Gerald Levin as "two guys groping, to see what fits." But he strongly hinted that he intends to keep at least some control of the network. "The outright...
...lessons of NBC and Kidder might suggest that GE does best when it sticks to markets that it already knows. But allegations directed at the company's industrial-diamond and jet-engine businesses show that GE has been unsteady there as well. Insisting that GE had done nothing wrong, Welch refused a Justice Department offer in February to settle the diamond probe with a plea of no contest. "We think our chances of winning are good," he says, "but you never know before a jury...
With regard to jet engines, Welch said GE notified the Federal Aviation Administration about an employee's safety concerns in 1992, before the engineer went to the FBI as a whistle-blower. The FAA and the Defense Department investigated, Welch said, and found no problem. "So far on this one, everything appears fine," he adds. "Air Force One has those engines. The President is flying everywhere with them. And everyone feels comfortable...