(The authors are Reuters Breakingviews columnists. The opinions expressed are their own. Refiles to fix Twitter link.)

NEW YORK - General Electric has given its shareholders 100 billion reasons to split the roles of chief executive and chairman of the board. That’s how many dollars of investor booty the industrial group has incinerated since John Flannery replaced Jeff Immelt last August. The new boss says he wants to create a more accountable corporate culture. That starts at the top: a proposal to separate the roles deserves investor support at next week's annual meeting.

Shareholders in the Boston-based conglomerate, which reported a first-quarter loss of $1.2 billion on Friday, have been far too tolerant of a sprawling and supine board. Over more than three decades, directors let Immelt and his predecessor, Jack Welch, lord over the maker of jet engines, windmills and locomotives in imperial fashion. The new board is smaller and populated by more appropriate directors. But having a lead independent director - Jack Brennan, who hails from the world of passive investing – isn’t sufficient to "drive a culture of candor and accountability in our teams," as Flannery promised in his letter to GE owners two months ago.

That's where a ballot proposal requiring the board chair to be independent comes into play. The idea was put forward, as in years past, by Kenneth Steiner, a corporate gadfly whose father played the same role at numerous companies. Last year, when Immelt was flying high - in two corporate jets - and promising to bring great things to life, including $2 a share of earnings, a quarter of GE shareholders supported the measure.

Even more of them should like it now, with analysts questioning its reaffirmed earnings guidance of just over $1 a share for 2018. Separating the roles allows the CEO to focus on running the business and managing the executive leadership. That's why nearly half the companies in the S&P 500 Index have made the split, and why it's mandated in markets like the UK. When a company is undergoing an intense restructuring and considering a possible breakup, like GE under Flannery, it is especially useful to have an independent chairman or -woman who can provide cover for the CEO with shareholders, regulators and other constituents.

Too many American CEOs regard having an independent chairman looking over their shoulder as a stigma. That's a shame. Having a partner who can act as a sounding board should be a seen as a benefit - especially someone willing to mention that, hey, maybe it's worth scrapping that empty second jet following you on the next trip to Hong Kong.

(Editing by Antony Currie and Amanda Gomez)

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