Annual Report by Investment Company (Form N-CSR)

General

American

Investors

2024

Annual

Report

GENERAL AMERICAN INVESTORS COMPANY, INC.

Established in 1927, the Company is a closed-end investment company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Its objective is long-term capital appreciation through investment in companies with above average growth potential.

General American Investors Company, Inc.

530 Fifth Avenue, 26th Floor, New York, NY 10036

(212) 916-8400 (800) 436-8401

E-mail: [email protected]

www.generalamericaninvestors.com

1

TO THE STOCKHOLDERS

General American Investors

eneral American Investors' net asset value (NAV) per Common Share (assuming reinvestment of all dividends) increased 20.8% for the year ended December 31, 2024. The U.S. stock market was up 25.0% for the year, as measured by our benchmark, the Standard & Poor's 500 Stock Index (including income). The retuto our Common Stockholders increased by 29.0% and the discount at which our shares traded to their NAV continued to fluctuate and onDecember 31, 2024, it was 11.7%.

The table that follows provides a comprehensive presentation of our performance and compares our returns on an annualized basis with the S&P 500.

U.S. equity markets performed remarkably well during 2024, with performance heavily skewed during the first eight months to ultra-large-cap technology company shares and later to financials as the Fed began to ease interest rate policy in late summer. Market participation broadened following the election as investors' imaginations ran wild with visions of deregulation, tax reform, and smaller government expenditures positively impacting future U.S. economic growth.

Reflecting further, one may appreciate the role earnings and, more importantly, price-to-earnings multiples play in market valuations. With earnings growth, on a reported basis, up approximately 10% and revenue growth up 5.0%, the S&P 500's performance of 24% was impressive. Still, it was mainly due to an expansion in the price-earnings multiple, which grew from 19.7 times forward earnings to 22+, mainly from the largest technology companies in the index.

As we enter 2025, the prior year's role of multiple expansion in returns may experience some resistance, barring an easier Federal Reserve policy. Thus, it may require even more earnings growth to drive returns. As we experienced in 2024, contrary to previous easing cycles, long-term interest rates have moved significantly higher by nearly 100 basis points, diminishing the peak multiple on forward earnings from its mid-year high of almost 24 times.

Thematically, the market has shown strong responses to AI adoption, attendant infrastructure, and monetization efforts. However, the recent announcement of a significant decline in processing costs by a Chinese Quant Hedge Fund turned AI company, Deep Seek, led to corrections in the market for these companies' share prices. Despite this, capital expenditure announcements by the most prominent U.S. cloud technology companies have continued unabated and are expected to exceed $300bn in 2025. This trend resembles prior periods of technology exuberance, such as the late 1990s with internet and fiber optic investments. It should serve as a caution for investors, as serious excess capacity during these eras led to severe economic consequences. Similarly, the S&P 500 trades for over 5 times book value, close to an all-time high, highlighting the rich valuation of the equity markets.

Meanwhile, U.S. economic growth remains robust, albeit slowing, as the bite from elevated interest rates affects small and mid-size firms more due to their heavy reliance on debt financing. Inflation remains stubbornly above the Federal Reserve's goal of 2% and appears to have slowed the Fed's intended lower interest rate path. Likewise, geopolitical tensions, uncertain European election results, and domestic rebalancing of priorities post-election may create economic and market turbulence as reality confronts imagination. If adopted entirely, many of the current administration's plans appear inflationary, which could significantly impact the market. Though not tapped out, the U.S. consumer is experiencing some strain, especially at the lower income spectrum, as non-performing loans and defaults rise. U.S. multinationals may feel some margin pain and sales revenue degradation with a stronger dollar exchange rate, while firms with primarily domestic sales may not.

The role of tariffs and retaliatory tariffs on supply chains may also impact aggregate demand and inflation rates. The Fed appears to be delaying policy changes to avoid adding uncertainty, preferring to see the potential policy impacts on inflation and growth. Also, the employment picture has deteriorated somewhat over the past year, with U.S. manufacturing indexes remaining sluggish. Car sales, home sales, and big-ticket items have all disappointed relative to the overall economy's performance. Marginal additional consumption seems highly dependent on declining interest rates. Growth equities appear fully valued without lower rates. On a positive note, as AI permeates the economy, we may see a more significant uptick in productivity (more revenue and earnings per unit of labor), providing a glide path to higher non-inflationary potential growth. Other possible improvements to economic prospects include reduced regulation, lower than-anticipated tax rates, and significant cuts in government spending. The equity markets may have adopted this perspective, perhaps already discounting some or all of it.

We remain vigilant to the market's high overall valuation risks but are cognizant that there may be more to this environment than older economic models and ratios suggest. With reduced regulation and a less aggressive anti-trust stance by the government, select equities have real opportunities to outperform. We continue to pursue those investments in companies whose valuations don't adequately reflect their sum of the parts or the benefits of active asset management through divestiture or competitive realignment. We remain sanguine about the long-term performance of equities.

Information about the Company, including our investment objectives, operating policies and procedures, investment results, record of dividend and distribution payments, financial reports and press releases, etc., is available on our website, which can be accessed atwww.generalamericaninvestors.com.

By Order of the Board of Directors,

Jeffrey W. Priest

President and Chief Executive Officer

February 12, 2025

2

THE COMPANY

General American Investors

General American Investors, established in 1927, is one of the nation's oldest closed-end investment companies. It is an independent organization that is internally managed. For regulatorypurposes, the Company is classifiedas a diversified, closed-end management investment company; it is registered under andsubjectto the Investment Company Act of 1940 and Sub-Chapter Mof theInternal Revenue Code.

The primary objective of the Companyis long-term capital appreciation. Lesser emphasis is placed on current income. In seeking to achieve its primary objective, the Company invests prin­cipally in common stocks believed byits managementto have better than average growth potential.

The Company's investment approach focuses on the selection of individual stocks, each of which is expected to meet a clearly defined portfolio objective.A continuousinvestment research program, which stresses fundamental security analysis, is carried on by the officers and staff of the Company under the oversight of the Board of Directors. The Directors have a broad range of experience in business andfinancial affairs.

Mr. Jeffrey W. Priest, has been President of the Company sinceFebruary 1, 2012 andhas been responsible for the managementof the Company sinceJanuary 1, 2013 when he was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Portfolio Manager. Mr. Priest joined the Company in 2010 as a senior investment analyst and has spent his entire 35-year business career on Wall Street.Mr. Priestsucceeds Mr. Spencer Davidson who served as Chief Executive Officer and Portfolio Manager from 1995 through 2012.

As a closed-end investment company, the Company does not offer its shares continuously. The Common Stock is listed on The New York Stock Exchange (symbol, GAM) and can be bought or sold in the same manner as all listed stocks. Net asset value is computed and published on the Company's website daily (on an unaudited basis). It is also available on most electronic quotation services using the symbol "XGAMX." Net asset value per share (NAV), market price, and thediscount orpremium from NAV as of the close of each week, is published inBarron'sandThe WallStreet Journal, Monday edition.

Shares of the Company usually sell at a discount to NAV, as do the shares of most other domestic equity closed-end investment companies.

Since March 1995, the Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of Common Stock in the open market when the shares trade at a discount to NAV of at least 8%. To date, 33,438,788 shares have been repurchased.

On September 24, 2003, the Company issued and sold in an underwritten offering 8,000,000 shares of its 5.95% Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series B with a liquidation preference of $25 per share ($200,000,000 in the aggregate). The Preferred Shares are rated "A1" by Moody's Investors Service, Inc. and are listed and traded on The New York Stock Exchange (symbol, GAM Pr B). The Preferred Shares are available to leverage the investment performance of the Common Stockholders; higher market volatility for the Common Stockholders may result.

The Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of up to 2 million Preferred Shares in the open market at prices below $25 per share. To date, 398,447 shares have been repurchased.

3

THE COMPANY

General American Investors

The Company's dividend and distributionpolicy is to pay to stockholders before year-end substantially all ordinary income estimated for the full year and capital gains realized during the ten-month period ended October 31 of that year. If any additional capital gains are realized and available or ordinary income is earned during the last two months of the year, a "spill-over" distribution of these amounts may be paid. Dividends and distributions on shares of Preferred Stock arepaid quarterly. Distributions from capital gains and dividends from ordinary income are allocated proportionately among holders of shares of Common Stock and Preferred Stock.

Dividends from income have been paid continuously on the Common Stock since 1939 and capital gain distributions in varying amounts have been paid for each of the years 1943-2024 (except for the year 1974). (A tablelisting dividends and distributions paid during the 10-year period 2015-2024 is shown at the bottom of page 5.) To the extent that shares can be issued, dividends and distributions are paid to Common Stockholders in additional shares of Common Stock unless the stockholder specifically requests payment in cash.

The policies and procedures used by the Company to determine how to voteproxies relatingto portfolio securities and the Company's proxy voting record for the 12-month period endedJune 30, 2024 are available: (1) without charge, upon request,by callingthe Company at its toll-free number (1-800-436-8401),(2) onthe Company'swebsite atwww.generalamericaninvestors.comand(3) on the Securities and Exchange Commission'swebsite at www.sec.gov.

The Company makes available direct registration for its Common Share­holders. Direct registration, an element ofthe InvestorsChoice Plan administeredby our transferagent, is a system that allows for book-entry ownership and electronic transfer of our Common Shares. Accordingly, when Common Shareholders, who hold their shares directly, receive new shares resulting from a purchase,transfer or dividendpayment, theywill receive astatement showing the credit of the new shares as wellas their Plan account and certificated share balances.A brochurewhich describes the features and benefitsof the Investors Choice Plan, including the ability ofshareholders to deposit certificates with our transferagent, can be obtained by calling Equiniti TrustCompany, LLC at 1-800-413-5499, callingtheCompanyat1-800-436-8401or visiting ourwebsite:www.generalamericaninvestors.com- click on Distribu­tions& Reports, then Report Downloads.

The Company does not directly or systematically collect non-public personal information about its stockholders with respect to their transactions or holdings in shares of the Company's securities. The Company has only limited access to certain information concerning stockholders whose shares are registered in their names via the Transfer Agent. That information is gathered and maintained in the normal course of business by the Transfer Agent in the execution of its responsibilities. The Company does not have knowledge of, nor does it collect personal information about stockholders who hold the Company's securities at financial institutions such as brokers or banks that are held in "street name" registration. The Company does not disclose any non-public personal information about its stockholders or former stockholders to anyone, except as required or permitted by law, such as is necessary to service stockholders. The Company restricts access to non-public personal information about its stockholders to those of its employees who need to know such information in order to provide service to stockholders. The Company maintains physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that comply with federal standards to guard stockholders' non-public personal information.

4

MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION OF FUND PERFORMANCE (UNAUDITED)

General American Investors

he investment retufor a Common Stockholder of General American Investors (GAM) over the 10 years ended December 31, 2024 is shown in the table and in the accompanying chart below. The retubased on GAM's net asset value (NAV) per Common Share in comparison to the change in the Standard & Poor's 500 Stock Index (S&P 500) is also displayed. Each illustration assumes an investment of $10,000 at the beginning of 2015.

Stockholder Returnis the retua Common Stockholder of GAM would have achieved assuming reinvestment of all dividends and distributions at the actual reinvestment price and of all cash dividends and distributions at the market price on the ex-dividend date.

Net Asset Value (NAV) Returnis the retuon shares of the Company's Common Stock based on the NAV per share, including the reinvestment of all dividends and distributions at the reinvestment prices indicated above.

Standard & Poor's 500 Returnis the total rate of retuon this widely-recognized, unmanaged index which is a measure of general stock market performance, including dividend income.

Past performance may not be indicative of future results.

The following tables and graph do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a stockholder would pay on Company distributions or the sale of Company shares.

10-YEAR INVESTMENT RESULTS
ASSUMING AN INITIAL INVESTMENT OF $10,000

CUMULATIVE VALUE OF INVESTMENT​

5

MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION OF FUND PERFORMANCE (UNAUDITED) -continued

General American Investors

During the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company performed incrementally better than its benchmark, the Standard & Poor's 500 Stock Index (S&P 500), on a market price per share basis while lagging the benchmark on a net asset value basis. This differential in performance in the two measures is a result of the narrowing of the discount at which the Company's shares trade in the market place relative to its net asset value from 17.3% at December 31, 2023 to 11.7% at December 31, 2024. On a net asset value basis, the Company's retuwas 20.8% including reinvestment of dividends and distributions. On a market price per share basis, the retuto our common shareholders was 29.0% including reinvestment of dividends and distributions while the S&P 500 returned 25.0% including income.

The returns noted above were realized in an environment of declining inflation (though not to the Federal Reserve's target level of 2%), initial expectations of dramatic interest rate reductions (fewer in reality than initially anticipated), perceived advances in artificial intelligence, and most importantly, a year skewed by the returns generated by the "Magnificent 7." Highlighting the impact of the "Mag 7" on the S&P 500 Index retuof 25.0 is the retuof the equal weighted S&P 500 Index (ticker: RSP) of 13.0%. Nevertheless, with this backdrop, the S&P 500 steadily advanced during the course of 2024 with a handful of moderate declines which were quickly overcome with investors "buying the dips."

As of December 31, 2024, the S&P 500 Index was comprised of 503 constituent companies having a median market capitalization of $37 billion with a similar 503 constituent companies having a median market capitalization of $34 billion as of December 21, 2023 per S&P Dow Jones Indices. Increases in earnings and significant increases in Price/Earnings ratios were the principal driver of both returns and median market capitalization during 2024. Trailing 12 month Price/Earnings ratios for the S&P 500 Index expanded from 23.3 at December 31, 2023 to 28.8 at December 31, 2024, an almost 24% increase, which accounts for a significant portion of the retuof the S&P 500 Index.

The Company holds shares in 59 portfolio companies in addition to a money market fund and U.S. Treasury Bill for liquidity. The median market capitalization of these portfolio companies is approximately $24 billion. As a result, any overlap in portfolio positions between the Company and the benchmark is limited. Furthermore, the Company's actual percentage ownership in a given portfolio position or the period of ownership of a given portfolio position by the Company can and will likely vary relative to the benchmark. Lastly, there are several operational differences between the Company and the S&P 500 including the fact that the Company incurs expenses (1.11% of common net assets) to conduct its activities, maintains a level of liquidity to take advantage of market opportunities (approximately 5.7% of common net assets at December 31, 2024), and is modestly leveraged (approximately 14.0% relative to common net assets also at December 31, 2024). The S&P 500 does not incur expenses, maintain liquidity (fully invested at all times), and it is not levered. Hence, a discussion comparing differences in retubetween the Company and the S&P 500 should be conducted at a relatively high level.

The S&P 500 Index is comprised of eleven industry sector classifications as follows: Information Technology, Health Care, Consumer Discretionary, Financials, Communication Services, Industrials, Consumer Staples, Real Estate, Energy, Materials, and Utilities. Within these sectors, various companies are categorized. As a practical matter, the Company does not invest in all of these sectors (no allocation to Real Estate and rarely/modestly to Utilities) all of the time or at the same level as the S&P 500 asset allocation. Hence, performance differences naturally occur due to these investment and allocation decisions.

During 2024, relative to the benchmark S&P 500 Index, the Company underperformed in the Information Technology sector such that underperformance in this sector entirely accounted for the underperformance of the Company relative to the S&P 500 Index. Said differently, the performance differentials in the other ten sectors and the various operating elements of the Company enumerated above, netted out to approximately a one-quarter of a percentage point in positive performance differential. Approximately 85% of the underperformance in the Information Technology sector is a result of either not having a position or not having a position at the market weighting in NVIDIA. The remainder of the underperformance in the Information Technology sector is due to an under-allocation of assets to the sector for risk management reason.

With respect to the other ten industry sector classifications, the Company underperformed in Consumer Staples (a little over a 1 percentage point differential largely due to a holding in Nestle), Financials (approximately a one-half percentage point differential largely due to holdings in certain re-insurers), Communication Services (less than one-half a percentage point differential), Energy (less than one-half a percentage point differential), and Health Care (less than one-half a percentage point differential). The Company performed better than the S&P 500 Index in Industrials (almost a 2 percentage point differential largely due to a holding in GE Vernova), Real Estate (less than one-half a percentage point differential due to no allocation of assets to this sector), Materials (less than one-half a percentage point differential), Consumer Discretionary (less than one-half a percentage point differential), and Utilities (less than one-half a percentage point differential). It should also be noted that certain hedging and options-related strategies detracted from Company performance by approximately 20 basis points.

The table below shows dividends and distributions on the Company's Common Stock for the prior 10-year period. Amounts shown are based upon the year in which the income was earned, not the year paid. Spill-over payments made after year-end are attributable to income and gains earned in the prior year.

6

PORTFOLIO DIVERSIFICATION (UNAUDITED)

General American Investors

The diversification of the Company's net assets applicable to its Common Stock by industry group as of December 31, 2024 is as follows.

*Net Assets applicable to the Company's Common Stock.

**Securities which have been held for less than one year, not previously disclosed, and not restricted.

PORTFOLIO DIVERSIFICATION (UNAUDITED)

General American Investors

(see notes to financial statements)

7

Ten largest investment holdings (UNAUDITED)

General American Investors

Listed below are the ten largest portfolio holdings of the Company, including a brief narrative, as of December 31, 2024.

8

statement of investments december 31, 2024

General American Investors

9

statement of investments december 31, 2024 -continued

General American Investors

10

statement of investments december 31, 2024 -continued

General American Investors

ADR - American Depository Receipt

(a)Non-income producing security.

(b)50 shares of 110 total shares held as collateral for options written.

(c)Securities which have been held for less than one year, not previously disclosed, and not restricted.

(d)Yield to maturity at purchase.

(e)7-day yield.

(f)At December 31, 2024, the cost of investments and derivatives for Federal income tax purposes was $543,951,035; aggregate gross unrealized appreciation was $1,004,069,433; aggregate gross unrealized depreciation was $16,527,143; and net unrealized appreciation was $987,542,290.

(see notes to financial statements)

11

Statement of Assets and liabilities

General American Investors

(see notes to financial statements)

12

Statement of operations

General American Investors

(see notes to financial statements)

13

STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN NET ASSETS

General American Investors