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GE Capital began in 1932, when General Electric created General Electric Contracts Corporation to help U.S. households buy GE appliances in installments, including refrigerators, washing machines, and kitchen equipment. During the Great Depression, consumer credit supported sales when cash was scarce. At first, the unit served the parent company rather than operating as an independent financial force.

Over the following decades, the business expanded into equipment leasing, inventory finance, and real estate. Between 1979 and 1984, assets doubled to $16 billion. In 1988, the unit was renamed GE Capital Services. Under General Electric CEO Jack Welch, who took over in 1981, GE Capital became a major source of corporate profit, using GE’s AAA credit rating to borrow cheaply and invest in higher-yielding financial assets.

By 1995, assets had passed $160 billion. In the 1990s, GE Capital moved into Japan, buying 80% of Marubeni Car System in 1996, acquiring Lake Corporation’s consumer loan portfolio in 1998, and creating GE Edison Life. It later absorbed Japan Leasing Corporation’s leasing business, which had $7 billion in assets. Expansion continued in Europe, Australia, and Latin America, on markets where Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase were active.

By 2008, GE Capital held about $600 billion in assets and ranked as the seventh-largest U.S. bank holding company. The credit crisis exposed its dependence on short-term debt. General Electric raised $3 billion from Warren Buffett, while the FDIC guaranteed about $139 billion of GE Capital debt. After the crisis, GE sold large parts of the unit, spun off Synchrony Financial in 2015, lost its systemic-risk label in 2016, and formally liquidated GE Capital on March 31, 2024.