Age of the PR-Supported Phony; Don't pay the unsuccessful and don't praise them.

Incredible! A paean to Jeff Immelt, arguably the worst ( and certainly least successful ) CEO in GE's last hundred years. "Jeff Immelt and The New GE Way," by David Magee (McGraw Hill, $25.95) Reviewed by Scott Malone 4/30 (Reuters) - ... book follows Immelt, the son of a lifetime GE employee, from his first job -- a brief stint at Procter & Gamble Co (PG.N) where shared an office with now Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) CEO Steve Ballmer -- through the October 2008 early morning phone call when he persuaded a bathrobe-clad Warren Buffett to invest $3 billion of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N)'s money in GE.***Begging, and offering an incredible deal to Buffett, is more like it. ***
...worst financial crisis in decades has given Immelt the chance to emerge fully from the shadow of his famous predecessor, who was a darling of Wall Street in the 1990s, Magee said...."All of a sudden you're not hearing so much about Jack Welch and everybody is turning their attention to find out, 'What do we have here? Let's look at this plan, let's look at how this company is being reshaped for the long term and the future.'" ****Incredible spin! Whatever Welch's contribution to GE's being built on financial sand, Immelt bears clear responsibility for the failings of recent years. **** ...adopted a different management style, including putting aside some of Welch's famous rules -- such as the desire to be No. 1 or No. 2 in a business or to exit it.****Change! But is it good? ****... gets Immelt most emotional is GE's beaten-down stock price, Magee said. GE shares ... have sharply underperformed the broader market over the past year. "It frustrates me," Magee quotes Immelt as saying. "It makes me angry, but you have to step back." ***Sure, reject the judgment of the market.***