what will happen to GE if the company is broken up? will shareholders benefit?

Answer 1

Most likely. Dissolving conglomerates usually perform very well, especially if the management does the dissolving on their own, rather than under pressure from shareholders.

Answer 2

The company would become several companies as happened to Standard Oil or JPMorgan. This would not have much imediate effect because the companies are really now a bunch of companies all owned and coordinated by one head. What I think you are really asking is what would be the effect to the stockholder. First of all you would have a proportional share of all the companies so you would hold shares in several companies that used to be one single company, GE. These companies would then all be independent of eachother, no one could really tell you for sure if the comapies together would be worth more or less than the original company but historically shareholders have done better on average when companies either split up or are broken up.

Answer 3

GE has become in effect a holding company. They regularly divest under preforming units. I think there is a synergy that should not be discounted for the different businesses that comprise GE. The financial strength, borrowing power, name recognition, better advertising rates, and not the least is the depth of management experience. Breakup might produce a higher total value in the short term but I think that advantage would soon be lost.