William Cohan: The Rise and Fall of America’s Most Iconic Company, General Electric | E243

William Cohan worked as an investment banker for 17 years at some of the most prestigious firms on Wall Street. But after he lost his job at JPMorgan Chase in his mid-forties, he decided to pivot to writing, and he's now one of the world’s premier financial journalists. In today’s episode, William shares his journey on and off Wall Street, provides his insights on some of the most influential business leaders in history, and breaks down the rise and fall of one of America’s most influential companies, General Electric.

William Cohan is the author of multiple New York Times bestselling books. A former longtime special correspondent at Vanity Fair, he is also a founding partner of Puck, a daily digital news and opinion publication. His most recent book is Power Failure: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon, which is about the astounding rise and precipitous fall of General Electric.

 

In this episode, Hala and William will discuss:

- His journey from journalist to investment banker and back

- Working on Wall Street in the 1980s

- How not to get hoodwinked by the Street

- Why it’s never too late to change careers

- Creating a new business model for journalism at Puck

- The rise and fall of General Electric

- Channeling the energy of GE’s legendary CEO Jack Welch

- Why you don’t need to be a founder or inventor to make it big

- And other topics…

 

William Cohan was a senior Wall Street M&A investment banker for 17 years at Lazard Frères & Co., Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan Chase. He is the New York Times bestselling author of three non-fiction narratives about Wall Street: Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World; House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street; and The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Frères & Co. A former longtime special correspondent at Vanity Fair, he is also a founding partner of Puck, a daily digital news and opinion publication. His most recent book is Power Failure: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon, which is about the astounding rise and precipitous fall of General Electric, once the world’s most valuable and respected companies.

 

Resources Mentioned:

William’s Website: https://williamcohan.com/

William’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamdcohan/

William’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/WilliamCohan

William’s Newsletter (Dry Powder): https://puck.news/newsletters/dry-powder/

William Cohan’s most recent book is Power Failure: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Failure-Rise-General-Electric/dp/0593084160/

 

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