Spinoffs Are All the Rage, but Do They Still Work?

Can Larry Culp be a stock-market genius?

General Electric ’s chief executive officer, the first-ever outsider to hold the title, already has a sterling reputation as a boardroom manager. His 15-year stint at Danaher saw the conglomerate’s shares return about four times as much as the S&P 500 stock index. While GE’s stock price has been a laggard in his three years at the helm, he has put the company on a far sounder footing financially through asset disposals in a tough market.