General Electric announced it would sell its lighting business to Savant Systems in a deal valued at $250 million. The agreement itself was long rumored but still comes as a surprise. In a way, the transaction signifies the death of an era–almost as if Coca-Cola sold of its sugary beverage line. General Electric didn’t invent the light bulb, but it did invent consumer light bulbs—the first affordable and mass-produced version. This spring boarded General Electric into the pantheon of history’s great companies. In the mid-2000s, G.E. was in everything from