General Electric was founded in 1892 through the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston. The new company united businesses connected to Thomas Edison’s electrical work and the Thomson-Houston system.
GE became a major American industrial corporation with activities spanning power generation, aviation, healthcare, appliances, and finance. Its history is closely tied to the spread of electric lighting and electrical infrastructure in the United States.
The company later reorganized into more focused businesses. GE’s former healthcare and power-and-renewable-energy operations were separated in the 2020s, while GE Aerospace became the surviving standalone company in 2024. The historic GE name therefore covers several different corporate eras.