<div><div><p class="css-9rt3sc"><main id="content"><article id="new-article-template"><div class="css-beo71e eetis970"><div class="css-hcc5vn e3mhczn0"><div class="css-vpmedt e1a1lgff0"><section class="css-18efhce e1j3n1wa0"><figure class="css-3mn275 e1197rjj0"><img width="1280" sizes="(min-width: 960px) 700px, 95vw" srcset="https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=360,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20221119_WBD000.jpg 360w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=384,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20221119_WBD000.jpg 384w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=480,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20221119_WBD000.jpg 480w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=600,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20221119_WBD000.jpg 600w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=834,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20221119_WBD000.jpg 834w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=960,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20221119_WBD000.jpg 960w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1096,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20221119_WBD000.jpg 1096w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1280,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20221119_WBD000.jpg 1280w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20221119_WBD000.jpg 1424w" src="https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/media-assets/image/20221119_WBD000.jpg"></figure></section></div><div class="css-129jqss e1a1lgff0"><div class="css-1tgongu e384ba00"><section class="css-dxwvlf efq1yh20"><div class="css-p6fe6o efq1yh21"><p class="css-1l5amll e1y9q0ei0"><span>I</span><small>t is hard</small> to think of two more different firms than <small>GE</small>, a once-exalted symbol of American inventiveness, and <small><a href="https://www.economist.com/briefing/2022/11/17/the-failure-of-ftx-and-sam-bankman-fried-will-leave-deep-scars">FTX</a></small>, a Bahamas-based fly-by-night crypto exchange. Besides high-pitched voices, it is hard to think of two people with less in common than the late <a href="https://www.economist.com/business/2020/03/05/jack-welch-transformed-american-capitalism-as-boss-of-ge">Jack Welch</a>, <small>GE</small>&#x2019;s legendary former <small>CEO</small>, and Sam Bankman-Fried, <small>FTX</small>&#x2019;s disgraced founder. The former, son of working-class parents, was fiendishly competitive about profits, had a frat-boy approach to life, and was as much at home on a golf course as he was on the factory floor. The latter, son of Stanford law professors, is scruffy, nerdy, a player of &#x201C;League of Legends&#x201D;, and claims to be motivated to make money only so that he can give it away. </p></div></section><div class="css-2x8c4j e13p72us0"><p class="css-1aogxph e12sz0jx0">This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline &#x201C;League of ex-legends&#x201D;</p></div></div></div></div><div><div class="css-z2cag9 ek9qger0"><div class="css-into0e e1sxhytt1"><div class="css-114o6rp e3mhczn0"><div class="css-1ae0vf1 e1a1lgff0"><div class="css-130z65j e11c7tvl0"><div class="css-h6gsp2 e1kb1ha80"><figure class="css-3mn275 e1197rjj0"><img alt width="1280" sizes="(min-width: 1440px) 700px, (min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 960px) 66vw, 95vw" srcset="https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=256,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBD003.jpg 256w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=360,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBD003.jpg 360w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=384,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBD003.jpg 384w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=480,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBD003.jpg 480w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=600,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBD003.jpg 600w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=834,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBD003.jpg 834w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=960,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBD003.jpg 960w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1096,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBD003.jpg 1096w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1280,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBD003.jpg 1280w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBD003.jpg 1424w" src="https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBD003.jpg"></figure></div><div class="css-0 exn4l0u0"><p class="css-1p38euj esimp700">Kering is the latest troubled firm to seek an outside saviour</p></div></div></div><div class="css-7bgp91 e1a1lgff0"><div class="css-1tv71c4 e11c7tvl0"><div class="css-1ip3mmp e1kb1ha80"><figure class="css-3mn275 e1197rjj0"><img alt="Model Tyra Banks walks the runway during the 2024 Victoria&apos;s Secret Fashion Show." width="1280" sizes="(min-width: 1440px) 700px, (min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 960px) 66vw, 95vw" srcset="https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=256,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBP502.jpg 256w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=360,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBP502.jpg 360w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=384,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBP502.jpg 384w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=480,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBP502.jpg 480w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=600,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBP502.jpg 600w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=834,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBP502.jpg 834w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=960,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBP502.jpg 960w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1096,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBP502.jpg 1096w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1280,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBP502.jpg 1280w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBP502.jpg 1424w" src="https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBP502.jpg"></figure></div><div class="css-0 exn4l0u0"><p class="css-1p38euj esimp700">Investors are growing impatient</p></div></div><div class="css-1tv71c4 e11c7tvl0"><div class="css-1ip3mmp e1kb1ha80"><figure class="css-3mn275 e1197rjj0"><img alt="Carsten Coesfeld and Thomas Coesfeld attend the Bertelsmann Party at the Bertelsmann Representative Office in Berlin, Germany on June 6th 2024" width="1280" sizes="(min-width: 1440px) 700px, (min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 960px) 66vw, 95vw" srcset="https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=256,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBP001.jpg 256w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=360,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBP001.jpg 360w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=384,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBP001.jpg 384w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=480,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBP001.jpg 480w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=600,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBP001.jpg 600w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=834,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBP001.jpg 834w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=960,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBP001.jpg 960w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1096,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBP001.jpg 1096w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1280,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBP001.jpg 1280w, https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBP001.jpg 1424w" src="https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250621_WBP001.jpg"></figure></div><div class="css-0 exn4l0u0"><p class="css-1p38euj esimp700">The owner of Penguin Random House and BMG is returning to family management</p></div></div><div class="css-130z65j e11c7tvl0"><div class="css-0 exn4l0u0"><p class="css-1p38euj esimp700">Meta engages in a high-stakes battle to unseat OpenAI </p></div></div></div><div class="css-1rezuzl e1a1lgff0"><div class="css-tlw2sg e3mhczn0"><div class="css-1x3zx2o e1a1lgff0"><div class="css-130z65j e11c7tvl0"><div class="css-0 exn4l0u0"><p class="css-1p38euj esimp700">At the industry&#x2019;s annual event in Cannes, executives are feeling the heat </p></div></div></div><div class="css-1x3zx2o e1a1lgff0"><div class="css-130z65j e11c7tvl0"><div class="css-0 exn4l0u0"><p class="css-1p38euj esimp700">Its newfound fondness for open-source is awkward for an authoritarian state</p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></article></main></p></div></div>

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From GE to FTX, beware the Icarus complex