Arnold Weinstock, Baron Weinstock, Kt., OMRI, FSS (29 July 1924 – 23 July 2002) was an English industrialist and businessman known for making General Electric Company one of Britain's most profitable companies. The City (London) criticized Weinstock for his financial caution but after he retired as managing director in 1996, under his successor a series of ill-judged acquisitions led to catastrophic losses.
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Early life
Born in Stoke Newington, Hackney, London, the son of working class Polish Jewish immigrants Golda (née Schag) and Simon Weinstock, Arnold Weinstock was educated at the London School of Economics.
Career
He was a junior administrative officer in the Admiralty in the period 1944–1947. In 1949, he married Netta Sobell, the daughter of industrialist Michael Sobell. The couple had two children, Simon (1952–1996) and Susan (b 1955). Lady Weinstock died in 2019.
In 1954 he joined his father-in law's electronics company, Radio & Allied Industries Ltd., and in 1963 orchestrated its merger with the General Electric Company, becoming the largest shareholder of GEC. He served as a member of the board of directors from 1961 to 1963 and was managing director from 1963 to 1996, thence chairman Emeritus. He transformed the firm, raising its turnover from £100m in 1960 to £11bn at his retirement in 1996.