Eli Broad: AIG Can't Recover

Greenberg's new insurer poaches AIG employees at taxpayers' expense

(NEWSER) - Hank Greenberg built AIG into a $1 trillion behemoth that needed the biggest bailout in history—but quietly, the former CEO has begun a new insurance company, CV Starr, that is poaching some of AIG's leading talent. He just got an unintended assist from the Treasury: Tough new pay rules at AIG have sent employees fleeing to Greenberg, further hurting the mega-company's ability to pay back the taxpayer. "Basically, he's just starting AIG Two and raiding people out of AIG One," said one insurance exec. More»

Government should focus on reducing stake, restructuring firm, former CEO says

(NEWSER) - AIG’s former CEO told Congress today the bailout of the insurance firm has “failed” and that the government should restructure the company, the Wall Street Journal reports. At a House committee hearing, Hank Greenberg said he blamed his successors for the firm’s implosion: "I think they got greedy. I think they wrote considerably more business than they should have." More»

3rd rescue could see government acquire parts of insurer

(NEWSER) - AIG is seeking yet another bailout from the federal government, the Financial Times reports, as the troubled insurer prepares to post a quarterly loss the Wall Street Journal expects to exceed $60 billion. The new package would see the government swap its previous $60 billion loan for equity and acquire of some of its Asian businesses. A new bailout would be the third time in just five months that the taxpayer has bankrolled AIG; the authorities already own 80% of the company. More»

NY takes tough action to limit payouts to curNewser Newsroom 1.15.0rent, former bigwigs

(NEWSER) - AIG will suspend bonus payments to its executives after getting pressure from New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. The ailing insurance firm, which recently got billions of dollars in loans from the Federal Reserve, also will stop $19 million in payments to a former CEO fired in June. Cuomo said it made no sense to reward management under the circumstances. More»

(NEWSER) - AIG today defended the $440,000 luxury retreat it held on the heels of an $85 billion federal bailout, the Wall Street Journal reports. In a letter explaining its actions to the US Treasury, CEO Edward Liddy explained that the event—which racked up a $23,000 spa bill— was planned months ago and attended almost entirely by top-producing independent agents, not corporate execs. More»