A Timeline Leading Up to GE’s First Earnings Under New CEO—and Ensuing Stock Plunge

(Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co. Chief Executive Officer Larry Culp on Tuesday addressed shareholders for the first time since taking the helm earlier in the month. But his turnaround plans ran into investor anxiety over an expanded federal accounting probe and a weaker outlook for the power business.

Here’s a timeline leading up to Tuesday’s third-quarter earnings report, and the ensuing stock plunge:

2017

• Aug. 1 -- John Flannery replaces Jeffrey Immelt as chief executive officer
• Oct. 7 -- Top management gets makeover as Chief Financial Officer Jeff Bornstein departs, vice chairs Beth Comstock and John Rice retire
• Oct. 20 -- Flannery offers brutal assessment of conglomerate after earnings miss estimates by record margin
• Oct. 27 -- Company marks $100 billion loss in market value for the year to date
• Nov. 3 -- GE rejects suggestion of accounting fraud, after longtime analyst says management risks legal inquiries
• Nov. 13 -- GE chops dividend in half, only the second cut since the Great Depression
• Late November -- Securities and Exchange Commission notifies GE of investigation into long-term service agreements, according to the latest quarterly filing
• Dec. 7 -- Flannery cuts 12,000 jobs in power segment

2018

• Jan. 16 -- GE announces $6.2 billion charge stemming from old portfolio of long-term-care insurance contracts
• Jan. 24 -- Company says SEC is looking into accounting practices related to review of an insurance business and “revenue recognition and controls for long-term service agreements” in power segment; Chief Financial Officer Jamie Miller says she isn’t “overly concerned”
• Feb. 26 -- Company announces former Danaher Corp. CEO Larry Culp will join board
• June 26 -- Flannery unveils plans to exit health-care and oil-market businesses; Shares surge
• Oct. 1 -- GE taps Culp to replace Flannery; Company reveals estimated charge of $23 billion related to goodwill impairment for power segment
• Oct. 30 -- Company says SEC widened probe to include latest charge, now listed at $22 billion, and that Justice Department is investigating; Shares plummet 8.8 percent, sharpest drop in more than nine years

To contact the reporter on this story: Natasha Rausch in New York at nrausch@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Case at bcase4@bloomberg.net, Tony Robinson

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