FAIRFIELD, Conn. — They bestrode the business world, or at least the suburban corporate campus, like a colossus.
Sitting behind burnished wooden desks, in glass-walled corner offices like the one Jeffrey R. Immelt occupied at General Electric’s former headquarters here, a select group of American chief executives were once more akin to statesmen than businessmen.
G.E. moved out of this sprawling Skidmore, Owings & Merrill-designed emblem of 1970s corporate modernism in favor of smaller, humbler digs in downtown Boston last year. And last week, Mr. Immelt unexpectedly announced plans to retire after 16 years in the top job, amid a sagging stock price and pressure from activist investors.
General Electric is just the latest storied name in corporate America to show its leader the door. Ford’s chief executive, Mark Fields, had been in the job for less than three years when he was fired in late May. Two weeks earlier, Mario Longhi of U.S. Steel abruptly stepped down.