John Francis Welch Jr. (November 19, 1935 – March 1, 2020) was an American business executive, chemical engineer, and writer. He was Chairman and CEO of General Electric (GE) between 1981 and 2001. When Welch retired from GE, he received a severance payment of $417 million, the largest such payment in business history up to that point. In 2006, Welch's net worth was estimated at $720 million.