GE GE Aerospace

By Ted Mann and Joshua Jamerson 

Keith Sherin, who helped steer General Electric Co. through the depths of the financial crisis and then shrank the company's massive lending business, is retiring after 35 years at the company.

GE said the 57-year-old finance executive will step aside as chief executive of GE Capital on Sept. 1 and retire from the conglomerate on Dec. 31. He will be succeeded by one of his lieutenants.

In an email to employees Tuesday, GE CEO Jeff Immelt praised Mr. Sherin as a humble, steadying hand during a period of profound turmoil at the company.

"He could juggle 10 balls at once," Mr. Immelt wrote. "I could trust him with any task, large or small... He was equally comfortable in the boardroom as he was on the factory floor."

Mr. Sherin worked his way up the ranks and served 15 years as the company's chief financial officer, beginning under former CEO Jack Welch. Since 2013, he has been head of GE Capital, the once-massive lending unit that had been a huge driver of profitability under Mr. Welch, but transformed into a millstone for Mr. Immelt during the financial crisis.

The dismantling of most of GE Capital, which began in earnest in the spring of 2015, has been Mr. Sherin's job, and one in which he has won plaudits from fellow GE executives, as well as Wall Street analysts. GE has beaten its initial timeline for selling off roughly $200 billion worth of finance assets by roughly a year.

GE Capital received clearance from the Federal Reserve to shed its designation as a systemically important financial institution in June, exiting the supervision by teams of Fed banking regulators that had been a significant headache for the company throughout Mr. Sherin's tenure.

Richard Laxer, the head of GE Capital's international operations, will succeed Mr. Sherin as CEO of the remaining GE Capital business Sept. 1. Mr. Laxer will report to GE's finance chief Jeffrey Bornstein. The board is expected to elect Mr. Laxer as chairman next week, succeeding Mr. Sherin, who will remain an adviser until year's end.

Mr. Laxer, 55, started out in GE's financial management program in 1984 and has led GE Capital's international operations since 2009.

The company said GE Capital will operate under three segments: GE Capital Aviation Services, GE Energy Financial Services and GE Industrial Finance.

Write to Ted Mann at ted.mann@wsj.com and Joshua Jamerson at joshua.jamerson@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 30, 2016 12:07 ET (16:07 GMT)

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