GE has since largely divested GE Capital, but lingering liabilities forced it to take a $6.2 billion charge last year, and begin setting aside $15 billion more in reserves against insurance claims. Former GE CEO Jeff Immelt, who ran the company for 16 years, from shortly before the 9/11 attacks to last summer, said in a statement that important elements of GE's history would continue after the latest batch of sales are done. "GE remains a formidable company," he said. (Reporting by Alwyn Scott in New York, Ben Hirschler in London and Ankit Ajmera, Ismail Shakil and Rachit Vats in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Liana Baker in New York and Scott Malone in Boston; Editing by Bernard Orr, Jeffrey Benkoe and Richard Chang)