Jeffrey Robert Immelt was born on 19 February 1956, in Cincinnati, Ohio USA, to Donna Rosemary, a school teacher, and Joseph Immelt, the manager of General Electric Aircraft Engines Division. He is a business executive, best known as the chairman and CEO of the conglomerate General Electric.
A senior CEO, just how wealthy is Jeffrey Immelt? Sources state that Immelt has amassed a net worth of over $60 million, as of mid-2016, earned largely through his involvement in the General Electric company.
Jeffrey R. Immelt Net Worth $60 Million
Immelt attended Finneytown High School in Springfield Township, Ohio and graduated from Darthmount College in Hanover, New Hampshire, with an BA in Applied Mathematics and Economics cum laude in 1978. Back at college, he was an avid football player and the president of fraternity Phi Delta Alpha. He obtained his MBA from Harvard Business School, graduating in 1982.
During his time at Darmouth, Immelt worked in a Ford Motor assembly plant in Cincinnati and later at Procter & Gamble company in the brandmanagement department. Upon his Harward graduation, following his father footsteps, he began working for General Electric as an internal marketing consultant. Since then, he has held various positions at the company, such as a district sales manager for GE Plastics, vice-president of consumer services in GE Appliances, vice- president and general manager of GE Plastics and president and CEO of GE Medical Systems.
In 2001 Immelt became the company’s Chairman and CEO, replacing Jack Welch who was considered as one of the world’s most prominent corporate leaders, and who had made GE one of the most admired companies in the country. Immelt’s net worth climbed steadily over these years.
Since Immelt’s taking over the position of GE’s CEO, the company has faced numerous crises and he has been challenged in many ways, including from the 9/11 attack, the financial crisis and the Great Recession, which effected the company’s business I particular from slowing sales. However, he has successfully dealt with all the challenges, withstanding the financial crashes he faced during the crises and eventually establishing GE as one of the most successful companies in the USA – he certainly justified his net worth during these periods.
Immelt has made many other changes that have contributed to the company’s success as well, so that in 2011 GE was ranked in the Fortune 500 as the 68th-largest company in the country by gross revenue, and the 14th most profitable. In 2012 it was ranked as world’s fourth-largest company on the Forbes Global 2000.
All added to Immelt’s wealth, with his total five-year compensation being $53.82 million through 2011, which ranked him sixth among conglomerate executives in the USA.
During his tenure as GE’s CEO, Immelt has received numerous awards and honors, such as being named the “World’s Best CEOs” three times by Barron’s, being named “Man of the Year” by the Financial Times, and being selected among the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine. His involvement in GE has made him a recognized and respected figure in the industry, and has enabled him to establish an substantial net worth.
Aside from being GE’s Chairman and CEO, Immelt has also served as a member of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as well as a member to the President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board.
In his personal life, Immalet has been married to Andrea, a GE customer-service representative, since 1986. They have one child together, and the family resides in Connecticut.
Immelt has been involved in philanthropy. He has served on the board of the Robin Hood Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on preventing poverty in New York City, and on the board of Catalyst, a non-profit organization focused on advancing female entrepreneurs. He has served as a class officer and Charter Trustee of Dartmouth College, and has been involved in the college’s Alumni Council. As a former football player and a great lover of the sport, he has announced a GE investment of $40 million for diagnostic equipment to use in head trauma injuries among NFL players, and the company’s participation in a separate $20 million effort to create safer football equipment. During his tenure as GE’s CEO, the company’s GE Foundation became the leading foundation in corporate charitable activities.
