|
  
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Share
Owner Proposals for Inclusion in Next Years Proxy Statement
To be considered for inclusion in next years
Proxy Statement, share owner proposals must be received at GEs principal
executive offices no later than the close of business on November 9, 2001.
Proposals should be addressed to Benjamin W. Heineman, Jr., Secretary,
General Electric Company, Fairfield, Connecticut 06431.
Other
Share Owner Proposals for Presentation at Next Years Annual Meeting
For any proposal that is not submitted for
inclusion in next years Proxy Statement, but is instead sought to
be presented directly at the 2002 Annual Meeting, SEC rules permit management
to vote proxies in its discretion if the Company: (1) receives notice
of the proposal before the close of business on January 23, 2002, and
advises share owners in the 2002 Proxy Statement about the nature of the
matter and how management intends to vote on such matter; or (2) does
not receive notice of the proposal prior to the close of business on January
23, 2002. Notices of intention to present proposals at the 2002 Annual
Meeting should be addressed to Benjamin W. Heineman, Jr., Secretary, General
Electric Company, Fairfield, Connecticut 06431.
Voting
Securities
Share owners of record at the close of business
on March 7, 2001, will be eligible to vote at the meeting. The voting
securities of GE consist of its $0.06 par value common stock, of which
9,930,487,294 shares were outstanding on February 9, 2001. Each share
outstanding on the record date will be entitled to one vote. Treasury
shares are not voted. Individual votes of share owners are kept private,
except as appropriate to meet legal requirements. Access to proxies and
other individual share owner voting records is limited to the Independent
Inspectors of Election and certain employees of GE and its agents who
must acknowledge in writing their responsibility to comply with this policy
of confidentiality.
Vote
Required for Approval
The 19 nominees for director receiving a
plurality of the votes cast at the meeting in person or by proxy shall
be elected. All other matters require for approval the favorable vote
of a majority of shares voted at the meeting in person or by proxy. Under
New York law, abstentions and broker non-votes, if any, will not be counted
as votes cast. Therefore, they will have no effect on the outcome of the
other matters to be voted on at the meeting.
Manner
for Voting Proxies
The shares represented by all valid proxies
received by phone, by Internet or by mail will be voted in the manner
specified. Where specific choices are not indicated, the shares represented
by all valid proxies received will be voted: (1) for the nominees for
director named earlier in this Proxy Statement; (2) for approval of the
appointment of Independent Auditors; and (3) against the share owner proposals
described in this Proxy Statement. Shares represented by valid proxies
will also be voted against proposals which the Company has received from
share owners who did not submit them for inclusion in the Proxy Statement,
but have given notice that they may seek to present them at the Annual
Meeting. Such proposals are: a proposal that the Company tell share owners
that its responses to share owner proposals are the Company's position
and not a summary of arguments for and against the proposal; a proposal
that the Company advise share owners if the voting recommendation of institutional
investors or proxy analysts is inconsistent with the Company's recommendation;
a proposal relating to the directors pension plan; a proposal on
whether 15- or 20-year term limits for directors would increase the overall
performance of the board; and a proposal that NBC avoid negative portrayals
of Polish-Americans in its programming. Should any matter not described
above be properly presented at the meeting, the persons named in the Proxy
Form will vote in accordance with their judgment. Except for share owner
proposals omitted from this Proxy Statement, or noted above, the Board
knows of no other matters which may be presented to the meeting.
Solicitation
of Proxies
Proxies will be solicited on behalf of the
Board of Directors by mail, telephone, other electronic means or in person,
and solicitation costs will be paid by GE. Copies of proxy material and
of the Annual Report for 2000 will be supplied to brokers, dealers, banks
and voting trustees, or their nominees, for the purpose of soliciting
proxies from beneficial owners, and GE will reimburse such record holders
for their reasonable expenses. Morrow & Co. has been retained to assist
in soliciting proxies at a fee of $30,000 plus distribution costs and
other costs and expenses.
Section
16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance
In December 2000, the Company inadvertently
did not report that Invemed Associates, LLC, in which Mr. Langone owns
a controlling ownership interest, purchased 75,000 shares of GE stock.
Share
Owners of Record with Multiple Accounts
Share owners who hold their shares directly
with the Company and who previously have elected not to receive an annual
report for a specific account may request GE to promptly mail GEs
2000 Annual Report to that account by writing GE Share Owner Services,
c/o The Bank of New York, P.O. Box 1102, New York, NY 10286-1402 or calling
(800) 786-2543 (800-STOCK-GE) or (908) 769-9619. In addition, participants
in GE's Savings and Security Program may request copies of GE's 2000 Annual
Report by calling GE's Transaction Processing Center at (800) 432-4313.
Electronic
Access to Proxy Statement and Annual Report
This Proxy Statement and GEs 2000 Annual
Report may be viewed online at www.ge.com/annual00. If you are
a share owner of record, you can elect to receive future annual reports
and proxy statements electronically by marking the appropriate box on
your Proxy Form or by following the instructions provided if you vote
by Internet or by phone. If you choose this option, you will receive a
Proxy Form in mid-March listing the Web site locations and your choice
will remain in effect until you notify GE by mail that you wish to resume
mail delivery of these documents. If you hold your GE stock through a
bank, broker or another holder of record, refer to the information provided
by that entity for instructions on how to elect this option.
March 9, 2001
  
|