Power Failure

The Rise and Fall of an American Icon

By: William D. Cohan

Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

The New Yorker Best Books of 2022 • Financial Times Best Books of 2022 • The Economist Best Books of 2022

The dramatic rise—and unimaginable fall—of America's most iconic corporation by New York Times bestselling author and pre-eminent financial journalist William D. Cohan

No company embodied American ingenuity, innovation, and industrial power more spectacularly and more consistently than the General Electric Company. GE once developed and manufactured many of the inventions we take for granted today, nearly everything from the lightbulb to the jet engine. GE also built a cult of financial and leadership success envied across the globe and became the world’s most valuable and most admired company. But even at the height of its prestige and influence, cracks were forming in its formidable foundation.

In a masterful re-appraisal of a company that once claimed to “bring good things to life,” pre-eminent financial journalist William D. Cohan argues that the incredible story of GE’s rise and fall is not only a paragon, but also a prism through which we can better understand American capitalism. Beginning with its founding, innovations, and exponential growth through acquisitions and mergers, Cohan plumbs the depths of GE's storied management culture, its pioneering doctrine of shareholder value, and its seemingly hidden blind spots, to reveal that GE wasn't immune from the hubris and avoidable mistakes suffered by many other corporations.

In Power Failure, Cohan punctures the myth of GE, exploring in a rich narrative how a once-great company wound up broken and in tatters—a cautionary tale for the ages.

©2022 William D. Cohan (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"An epic piece of work."—MIKE BARNICLE, MSNBC Morning Joe

"A riveting, magisterial work of business history."—FAST COMPANY

“A sweeping tale of ambition, arrogance, egos, and feuds—and how they brought down a once-great company.”—KIRKUS REVIEWS

Very vivid storytelling!

loved the book and how expansive it was. it was well written and vividly descriptive.

An electric read

A towering achievement fit for the subject itself. Illuminating and enlightening, a tragedy of modern capitalism

Been a shareholder since 93

Was along for the ride the whole time but the books brought a lot of insight to it.

Fantastic

I am impressed with this writing.
The story unfolded in such an unexpected manner, that I couldn’t stop listening. I just had to hear what happens next.

Great telling of a sad story

Cohan traces GE from its founding to its recent breakup, concentrating on the Welch and Immelt years. The author makes no bones about who he thinks are villains (Larry Culp) who got a raw deal, (John Flannery) and who’s to blame: Mostly Immelt but Welch left him some time
Bombs. He misses a key point, both Welch and Immelt sat on the Board of Directors for the NY Fed, so Immelt was not unfamiliar with Bank supervision. All in all a well
Done cautionary tale about corporate hubris and greed.

Good deep dive into GE’s implosion

Cowan is one of the best writers on financial corporate history out there. if you are interested in what happened to General Electric after the very hyped jack Welch years this is the book for you. The book is a wonderful cautionary tale about how Black Swan events and financial crises and other exogenous events can take a franchise held up as one of the models of the business world and then show how it becomes completely incompatible with a new era. it also raises the fundamental question, was the GE that Jack Welch built an enterprise that only he could run, with his special combination of skills and talents.

Well written but cannot stand listening to the narrator

The narrator ruined the experience for me. So hard to listen to, with his staccato pace and it got me so irritated I decided to stop listening mid way through the book. Curious why you choose this narrator, Eric Martin in particular?

Big business bigger egos

What a bunch of self serving egos who feign caring about others.
Karma bites back.

Riveting & woeful corporate tale

Reads like a gripping novel filled with history & many lessons along the way. Highly recommend.

Really great. Couldn’t stop

Tremendous in-depth story that kept my interest from first to last page. Highly recommend!