Wiktor Wise
General Electric Company (GE) was founded in 1892 through the merger of Edison General Electric Company, Thomson-Houston Electric Company, and two other electrical companies. The company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange the same year and was one of the original 12 companies listed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1896. Over the years, GE has operated in various industries, including lighting, energy, aerospace, healthcare, and appliances, and has been a household name in America for over a century. In 2023, GE ceased to exist as a conglomerate after it was broken up into three separate public companies: GE Aerospace, GE HealthCare, and GE Vernova.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Year General Electric was founded | 1892 |
| Companies that merged to form General Electric | Edison General Electric Company, Thomson-Houston Electric Company |
| Original plants | Schenectady plant |
| Canadian counterpart | Canadian General Electric |
| Year GE stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange | 1892 |
| Year GE was one of the original companies listed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average | 1896 |
| Year GE acquired Cincinnati Electronics | 1981 |
| Year GE purchased RCA and NBC television network | 1986 |
| Year GE ranked 14th in the Fortune 20 | 2011 |
| Year GE was broken up into three separate public companies | 2023-2024 |
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What You'll Learn
Merger of Edison General Electric Company and Thomson-Houston Electric Company in 1892
General Electric Company (GE) was founded in 1892 through the merger of Edison General Electric Company and Thomson-Houston Electric Company. The merger was organised by New York financier J.P. Morgan, who brought about a consolidation of the two companies to form GE.
The Thomson-Houston Electric Company began as the American Electric Company, founded by Elihu Thomson and Edwin Houston. In 1882, Charles Albert Coffin led a group of investors in buying American Electric, renaming it Thomson-Houston Electric Company and moving its operations to Lynn, Massachusetts. Under the leadership of Coffin, Edwin Rice, and Elihu Thomson, the company grew rapidly, reaching sales of $10,000,000 and employing 4,000 people by 1892. Thomson-Houston became a successful enterprise, supplying electric incandescent lighting and electric generation and propulsion equipment for the first electric streetcar in Massachusetts.
Edison General Electric Company, on the other hand, was incorporated in New York in 1889, through the merger of Edison's three electric light manufacturing companies (Edison Lamp Company, Edison Machine Works, and Bergmann & Company) and the patent-holding company Edison Electric Light Company. In the same year, Edison General Electric acquired the Sprague Electric Railway and Motor Company.
The merger of these two prominent companies, Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston, created a powerful conglomerate that operated under the GE banner. The original plants of both predecessor companies continued to operate under the GE name, and GE's Canadian counterpart, Canadian General Electric, was also formed around this time. GE's business was incorporated in New York, and it established its headquarters in Schenectady for many years.
The formation of GE marked the beginning of a long history of innovation and expansion in the electrical industry, with GE becoming one of the major computer companies of the 1960s and continuing to diversify its divisions over the years, including aerospace, transportation, energy, healthcare, and lighting.
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General Electric stock trading on the New York Stock Exchange
General Electric Company (GE) was founded in 1892 through the merger of Edison General Electric Company and Thomson-Houston Electric Company. In 1896, it became one of the original 12 companies listed on the newly formed Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Over the years, GE has been traded on multiple stock exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). GE stock has been traded on the NYSE under the ticker symbol "GE".
GE Aerospace, one of the three separate public companies that GE was broken up into during 2023-2024, is also traded on the NYSE under the same ticker symbol. GE Aerospace operates as an aircraft engine supplier company, providing jet and turboprop engines, as well as integrated systems for various types of aircraft.
Trading stocks, including those on the NYSE, typically involves using an online stockbroker. This requires opening an account, following the broker's procedures, and then starting to trade. It is important to conduct comprehensive research before investing in stocks, carefully studying the company's financials, related news, and technical analysis.
As of 2025, GE stock has shown positive trends, with a significant bullish run since early April. The stock price has increased by 2.30% in the past 24 hours, trading at 279.23 USD. Analysts have provided varying price estimates for GE stock, with a maximum estimate of 343.00 USD and a minimum estimate of 271.00 USD.
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General Electric's Canadian counterpart
General Electric Company (GE) was an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892 through the merger of Edison General Electric Company and Thomson-Houston Electric Company.
Around the same time, General Electric's Canadian counterpart, Canadian General Electric (CGE), was formed through the merger of the Edison Electric Light Company of Canada and the Thomson-Houston Electric Light Company of Canada. Both these companies were incorporated in Canada in 1882. CGE acted as the Canadian counterpart of the American company General Electric and was a manufacturer of various electrical products.
In 1892, CGE founded and opened an engine/motor plant in Peterborough, Ontario. In 1899, the Canadian General Electric electric car was produced for the model year 1899 in Peterborough. The car was essentially a Woods Electric. In 1911, CGE acquired the Sunbeam Lamp Company of Toronto, Ontario, and the following year, the company established a lamp plant in Montreal, Quebec. In 1921, vacuum tube operations began in Toronto, and in 1922, the Canadian Edison Appliance Company was established.
In 1989, CGE became wholly owned by General Electric and was renamed General Electric Canada, now known as GE Canada. GE Canada is the wholly-owned Canadian unit of General Electric, manufacturing various consumer and industrial electrical products all over Canada.
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Charles Steinmetz brought on board in 1893
General Electric Company (GE) was founded in 1892 through the merger of Edison General Electric Company and Thomson-Houston Electric Company. In 1893, just a year after its formation, GE brought Charles Proteus Steinmetz on board through the acquisition of Rudolf Eickemeyer's company, which developed transformers for transmitting electrical power.
Steinmetz, a German-born American electrical engineer, had worked for Eickemeyer in Yonkers, New York, prior to the acquisition. He had published a paper on magnetic hysteresis, which was noticed by E.W. Rice Jr. of General Electric, who was keen to bring him on board. Steinmetz's understanding of the mathematics involved in hysteresis—a mystery that had stumped the likes of Thomson, Tesla, Westinghouse, Shallenberger, and Edison—was particularly impressive.
At GE, Steinmetz quickly became known as the "engineering wizard" within the company's engineering community. He was considered a major asset, and his work revolutionized AC circuit theory and analysis. Steinmetz simplified the complicated, calculus-based methods previously used in a groundbreaking paper, "Complex Quantities and Their Use in Electrical Engineering", presented in July 1893. He also co-authored a book, "Theory and Calculation of Alternating Current Phenomena", in 1897, which was, however, understood by very few due to its complex mathematical treatment of problems.
Steinmetz's other notable achievements include designing a generator that produced a discharge of 10,000 amperes and over 100,000 volts, as well as creating the first laboratory-made "man-made lightning" through systematic experiments. He also contributed to the development of the world's first 3-phase electrical systems and the first commercial 3-phase AC power systems. Steinmetz's work at GE and beyond has left a lasting legacy, with concepts such as Steinmetz solids, Steinmetz curves, and the Steinmetz equivalent circuit bearing his name.
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General Electric's lighting division
General Electric Company (GE) was founded in 1892 through the merger of Edison General Electric Company and Thomson-Houston Electric Company. Over the years, GE has had multiple divisions, including aerospace, transportation, energy, healthcare, lighting, locomotives, appliances, and finance.
GE's lighting division, GE Lighting, traces its origins to Thomas Edison's work on lighting in the 19th century. In 1911, GE acquired three-quarters of the National Electric Light Association (NELA), an association of lighting product companies through which GE had licensed its patented products. This trading arrangement was the subject of an antitrust investigation, and as a result, the association was dissolved. GE then acquired several of the association's member companies, which were later consolidated with the Edison lamp division. In 1911, Owen D. Young, GE's general counsel and vice president, founded the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) to expand international radio communications. GE used RCA as its retail arm for radio sales.
GE Lighting established its headquarters at Nela Park in East Cleveland, Ohio, in 1911, and the lighting division has remained in the same location ever since. In July 2011, GE Lighting entered a licensing agreement with Nuventix for its LED cooling technology and invested $10 million in the company. Two weeks later, the company announced its plan to acquire Lightech, purchasing its LED and halogen power supplies for a deal worth between $15 million and $20 million.
On October 7, 2015, the Commercial division of GE Lighting was separated from the business, and a new startup called Current was created. On July 1, 2020, GE Lighting was acquired by Savant Systems, a home automation company headquartered in Hyannis, Massachusetts, marking the end of General Electric's last consumer business. Today, GE Lighting offers a range of LED lighting solutions, including smart bulbs, light strips, and bendable neon lights, as well as customized accent lighting options.
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Frequently asked questions
General Electric (GE) was founded in 1892 through a merger between the Edison General Electric Company and the Thomson-Houston Electric Company.
The earliest products of GE included incandescent light bulbs, an electric locomotive, X-ray machines, and an electric stove.
The original companies that merged to form GE were Thomas Edison's Edison General Electric Company and the Thomson-Houston Company.
