Most question masters would allow "General Electric" as a correct answer to this question, and it would be harsh not to. But it's important to realise that General Electric is the name of an American firm that has nothing to do with Lord Weinstock's company, which was invariably known as GEC.
General Electric was founded in 1892; in 2017, as it celebrated its 125th anniversary, it was the USA's thirteenth–largest company, measured by gross revenue. GEC was founded six years earlier; Arnold Weinstock became its Managing Director in 1963 after it merged with the company owned by his father–in–law, Sir Michael Sobell. In 1984 GEC became one of the first companies in the new FTSE 100 index, ranking third in value behind BP and Shell. Weinstock, now Lord Weinstock, retired in 1996; three years later GEC's defence arm, Marconi, was amalgamated with British Aerospace to form BAE Systems, while the rest of the company became known as Marconi plc. In 2005 the bulk of Marconi was acquired by the Swedish–based multinational Ericsson.
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