GE once set a Guinness “world record” for having the most efficient power plant, in 2016, and did it again in 2018. But this fall, the energy company now known as GE Vernova has set its sights on a very different world record: collecting the most toys in one 24-hour period.
On Monday, chief executive Scott Strazik announced the news during a sponsored segment of NBC’s Today show, in New York, with host Al Roker. The Cambridge-based company set a new Guinness World Records title for the largest online toy drive in 24 hours, collecting donations for 23,385 toys.
The toys, STEM-themed products such as Lite-Brites and Rubik’s Cubes, will be distributed throughout the US via the nonprofit Toys for Tots. The GE Vernova Foundation matched the contribution, pledging a similar number of toys to Save the Children for global distribution. Once donations from GE Vernova partners Mattel and Hasbro are included, Strazik said in a Globe interview, the total exceeds 70,000. As part of the celebration, GE Vernova sponsored an “Innovators Toy Land” pop-up experience on Monday at Rockefeller Center.
It wasn’t all fun and games for Strazik in Manhattan. He was there this week for the company’s annual investor meeting. Though he had reason to smile there as well: The company announced it expects $52 billion in annual revenue by 2028, up from previous estimates of $48 billion, and doubled its quarterly dividend to 50 cents a share.
GE Vernova’s stock has essentially doubled since the start of the year, as investors bet that its turbines will power a new generation of AI-enabling data centers. Strazik told his team over the summer to come up with a “significant event” to close out a successful year — “to come up with one more idea that was a little bit different than another company had done before, that would be uniquely ours,” as Strazik put it.
Shortly before Thanksgiving, GE Vernova announced the toy drive internally, setting it for Dec. 2, known as “Global Giving Tuesday.” And during the day, the company made periodic updates encouraging employees — plus friends and families — to keep the momentum going.
“I think this really resonated,” Strazik said. “There’s a lot of kids and a lot of parents that need a little magic in their lives.”
So, will GE Vernova try to beat its own record next year, like GE did back in 2018? That’s to be determined.
“They raised the bar this year,” Strazik said. “We’ll have to take a deep breath and figure out how we top this next year.”
This is an installment of our weekly Bold Types column about the movers and shakers on Boston’s business scene.
Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him @jonchesto.