GM went public 10 years ago, and it’s been a mediocre investment “” here’s how it can improve for the next 10

GM went public 10 years ago, and it’s been a mediocre investment “” here’s how it can improve for the next 10

Ten years ago, General Motors made its second debut on the New York Stock Exchange in what was then the largest initial public offering in U.S. history — ushering in a new era of renewed optimism for the company and U.S. economy after emerging from bankruptcy in the Great Recession.Then-CEO Dan Akerson rang the opening bell on Nov. 18, 2010 with an entourage of executives that included former vice chairman Steve Girsky, current President Mark Reuss and then-GM Treasurer Dan Ammann, who now leads the automaker's majority-owned Cruise autonomous vehicle subsidiary."To ring the bell, to me, that was the first step to success, then we had to go to work," Akerson told CNBC on Wednesday, adding he remembers walking onto the trading floor to applause. "It was really humbling. I got emotional … I had never felt as proud as I did the GM organization."Investor interest was high amid hopes that one of America's most storied companies could make a comeback. GM initially raised $20.1 billion and its shares opened at $35, up $2 from the IPO price. A decade later, the "new GM" has a sound balance sheet and the company is the leanest its been in decades. The