Though the words “Jeff [Immelt] has a credibility issue” did indeed exit the mouth of Jack Welch yesterday on “Squawk Box,” the former General Electric CEO showed up on the CNBC morning show again today to clarify that under no circumstances should they have been misconstrued to mean that there are issues surrounding Jeff Immelt’s credibility. If that’s how you took it, WOW. Said Welch, “Much to my shock and horror remarks I made on Squawk Box about the performance of GE CEO Jeff Immelt were interpreted to mean the exact opposite of what I intended. You see, what you took as my suggestion that Immelt couldn’t manage a Taco Bell if his life depended on it was actually my way of saying the guy’s an outstanding CEO. Besides, Taco Bell is a tough operation to handle, trust me. The hours suck with the all night drive-thru. No one would know that better than me. I could tell you some stories.”
Welch did not, however, take back his threat to “get out a gun and shoot” his successor, should the “shit for brains” CEO (which is to say “genius”) miss earnings again, ‘cause guess what? He meant it. And not in the up/down, in/out, I was just messing, by “I’ll fucking kill you” I meant “I’ll fucking give birth to you” way, but in the I swear to god, I will not hesitate to end your life if that’s what it takes to get some results out of this bitch. Check out the name tag button on my lapel, grandma Immelt. You’re in my bizzaro world now.
GE’s Welch Defends Immelt, Says Remark Misinterpreted [Bloomberg]
Welch says GE’s Immelt has `credibility issue’ [AP]