Jeff Immelt stepped down from the board of General Electric Co. on Monday, the company reported, giving the chairman's chair to his CEO successor, John Flannery. Immelt passed the CEO helm to Flannery on June 12, but GE said at the time that he would stay on as chairman of the board until the end of the year. In Monday's announcement, though, the company said "in light of Mr. Immelt's determination that the CEO transition has proceeded smoothly," he was turning over the chairman position early and stepping down from the board. Immelt also retired as director and chairman of Baker Hughes, a GE company, and passed on the chairman role to that company's CEO, Lorenzo Simonelli. GE shares gained 0.2% in late trading.