To the news that General Electric’s board of directors has been meeting in solemn conclave to debate whether its chief executives should serve a 20-year term, the natural response is: which egomaniac came up with that idea?

The answer is Jack Welch, the stock market-pleasing, Fortune magazine cover-generating former chief executive, who enjoyed 20 years at GE’s helm before stepping down smartly in 2001, just as the wheels were coming off. He was succeeded by Jeff Immelt, the good soldier who has refashioned and globalised GE for the past 13 years, and been greeted with a shrug.

For GE Kremlinologists, this week’s story in The Wall Street Journal about the mythical 20-year tenure at GE (Mr Welch’s two predecessors actually lasted nine years each) is full of raw material. On one interpretation, it is merely an ingenious way to announce that Mr Immelt is tired of slogging away for no stock market reward, and is ready to step down.