| Market Capitalization (Millions $) |
- |
| Shares
Outstanding (Millions) |
- |
| Employees |
47,000 |
| Revenues (TTM) (Millions $) |
29,047 |
| Net Income (TTM) (Millions $) |
-15,461 |
| Cash Flow (TTM) (Millions $) |
18,696 |
| Capital Exp. (TTM) (Millions $) |
13,509 |
Business Description
General Electric Capital Corporation (GE Capital) was the financial services arm of the General Electric Company before it was sold to the Wells Fargo in 2015. Founded in 1932 as a small company that provided financing for GE customers to purchase its products, GE Capital grew into a large, diversified financial services provider with operations in more than 50 countries, and roughly $500 billion in assets.
GE Capital used various financial instruments such as commercial paper, bonds, and asset-backed securities to raise funds. In turn, GE Capital used these funds to provide commercial loans, and consumer loans, vendor finance, and leasing services across a range of industries including aviation, energy, healthcare, real estate, and transportation.
Over time, GE Capital expanded into other lines of business such as the issuance of credit cards, personal loans, insurance, and online banking services. The company also made strategic acquisitions, including the purchase of Merrill Lynch Capital in 2009, and the bulk of the U.K.es fifth-largest bank, National Westminster Bank in 2000.
Despite diversification efforts, GE Capital faced significant challenges during the 2008 financial crisis. The company had heavily invested in subprime mortgages and other high-risk financial products that led to mounting losses when the housing market crashed. GE required financial support from the U.S. government to prevent a complete collapse of the company.
As part of its efforts to return to profitability, GE CEO, Jeff Immelt, led a successful campaign to reduce GE Capital's size and focus on core businesses. As a result, GE Capital sold non-core businesses such as the transportation finance business to BMO Financial Group and the North American retail finance business to Synchrony Financial.
In 2015 GE announced plans to divest much of its financial services capabilities and returned to being a pure industrial company. Wells Fargo acquired GE Capitales commercial lending and leasing businesses, as well as a portion of its real estate assets.
Today, GE is no longer affiliated with GE Capital Corporation. However, the GE brand still exists in various businesses and industries, including aviation, healthcare, power and renewable energy, and digital industries.
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