GE: Breaking up so hard to do?
General Electric isn't a manufacturer, or even a lender, it's a hedge fund, buying, selling, investing and betting on markets around the world, Barron's Alan Abelson once wrote. When that conglomerate strategy is out of favor, investment bankers like to break things up.
Tyco International did it last year -- splitting into three companies after CEO Ed Breen admitted the Princeton-based conglomerate was worth more in pieces.
Unisys is under pressure to do it -- taking major shareholder Clay Lifflander onto the board last week after he urged management to separate the company's government-contracts business from its tech business.
Should General Electric have to do it too? Is it enough to get out of the washer-and-oven business? The Washington Post's Steven Pearlstein says Wall Street is pushing too hard, read his column here.