Jack Welch Fast Facts

Personal: Birth date: November 19, 1935

Birth place: Peabody, Massachusetts

Birth name: John Francis Welch Jr.

Father: John Francis Welch Sr., a train conductor

Mother: Grace (Andrews) Welch

Marriages: Suzy Wetlaufer, journalist (April 24, 2004-present); Jane Beasley, corporate lawyer (1989-2002, divorced); Carolyn Osburn (1959-1987, divorced)

Children: with Carolyn Osburn: Katherine, John, Anne and Mark

Education: University of Massachusetts, 1957, B.S. Chemical Engineering; University of Illinois, 1960, M.S., Ph.D. Chemical Engineering

Other Facts: Head of Jack Welch, LLC, established in 2007.

Media had given him the nickname "Neutron Jack" for his no-nonsense approach to business.

Wrote a weekly column in Business Week with his wife Suzy called "The Welch Way."

Timeline: 1960 - Begins career at GE in the Chemical Development Organization as a chemical engineer.

1972 - He is appointed general manager of the worldwide plastics division and becomes a vice president.

1979 - Vice Chairman and Executive Officer.

1981 - He is appointed Chairman and CEO, the youngest CEO that General Electric Corporation (GE) has ever had.

1999 - Fortune magazine names Welch "Manager of the Century."

September 2001 - Steps down as GE chairman and CEO and is replaced by Jeffrey Immelt.

July 3, 2003 - Announcement is made that his ex-wife Jane Beasley Welch will receive an undisclosed lump sum divorce settlement.

April 13, 2007 - Makes a failed attempt, with other investors, to buy the Boston Globe from New York Times Co.

June 21, 2009 - Pays more than $2 million for 12% stake in Chancellor University System LLC which delivers online education. The MBA program will become the Jack Welch Management Institute.

July 5, 2009 - Is hospitalized and later released after suffering a bacterial infection.

November 2011 - Sells the Jack Welch Management Institute to Strayer University for $7 million. The sale is a 70-30 split with Chancellor University; Welch gets the 70%.

October 9, 2012 - Welch and wife Suzy resign as Fortune magazine and Reuters contributors after his controversial tweet regarding the Obama administration and September unemployment data was criticized by Fortune.

April 4, 2015 - Harper Collins releases "The Real-Life MBA," the new book written by Welch and his wife Suzy.

December 2, 2016 - Welch is named to President-elect Donald Trump's newly formed President's Strategic and Policy Forum. The group will provide insight and opinions about jobs and the economy.