GE CEO Takes Responsibility for Tarnished Reputation

"Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt took responsibility for the U.S. conglomerate's "tarnished" reputation as a growth company, in a letter to shareholders released Monday. 'Our company's reputation was tarnished because we weren't the 'safe and reliable' growth company that is our aspiration. I accept responsibility for this. But, I think this environment presents an opportunity of a lifetime,' Immelt wrote in the letter included in the company's annual report. GE shares have lost 75 percent of their value over the past year, a steeper slide than either the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average .DJI or the broad Standard & Poor's 500 index .SPX have witnessed."