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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

The dramatic riseand unimaginable fallof Americas most iconic corporation by New York Times bestselling author andpreeminent 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 worlds 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 reappraisal of a company that once claimed to bring good things to life preeminent financial journalist William D Cohan argues that the incredible story of GEs 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 GEs storied management culture its pioneering doctrine of shareholder value and its seemingly hidden blind spots to reveal that GE wasnt 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 oncegreat company wound up broken and in tattersa cautionary tale for the ages