General Electric’s new Boston headquarters isn’t the only change coming to the company. GE announced Monday that current CEO Jeff Immelt is stepping down on August 1.
Immelt has served as CEO for 16 years and will be replaced by John Flannery, currently the president and CEO of GE Healthcare.
Immelt, 61, oversaw the company’s decision to relocate its headquarters from Connecticut to Boston. After he steps down from his position as CEO, he will continue to be chairman of the board through to his retirement from GE on Dec. 31, 2017.
The leadership changes have been detailed in a plan by GE Board of Directors for years, the company said.
“The plan for the GE CEO transition process was set in 2011,” said Jack Brennan, lead independent director for GE’s board, in statement. “With the GE Capital pivot behind us and the company’s transition to Boston complete, this is the ideal time for change. The board is confident that in the years to come, GE investors and employees will benefit from Jeff’s hard work.”
Immelt was onsite at the groundbreaking for Boston’s GE headquarters last month, alongside Mayor Marty Walsh and Gov. Charlie Baker. The company said it isn’t altering its plans to build a three-building, $100 million Fort Point campus, according to the Boston Globe.
The headquarters is expected to be completed in 2018, meaning Immelt won’t be with the company when the final product is unveiled. Immelt bought a $7.5 million home on Commonwealth Avenue in Back Bay last year ahead of the move, according to Boston Magazine.
Flannery, 55, began working at GE Capital in 1987. He’s moved across the globe for various leadership positions at the company, including South America, Asia and India.
“Today’s announcement is the greatest honor of my career,” Flannery said in a statement. “I am privileged to have spent the last 16 years at the company working for Jeff, one of the greatest business leaders of our time. He has transformed the GE portfolio, globalized the company and created a vision for the GE of the future by positioning the company to lead in digital and additive manufacturing. In the next few months, my focus will be on listening to investors, customers and employees to determine the next steps for GE.”
Flannery — a Red Sox fan, according to the Globe, who named his dog after right fielder Mookie Betts — will move to Boston from the Chicago area.
