New AIG CEO's Salary: $7M

The new CEO of AIG is bringing home $7 million a year to restore the bailed-out firm to health, Bloomberg reports. Robert Benmosche will receive $3 million in cash and $4 million in common stock, a regulatory filing notes. “The cash component had to be enough to attract a very strong candidate and give that person enough incentive to make a change,” says an expert.

But the deal, to which the Obama administration agreed “in principle,” means Benmosche “gets the $7 million whether he performs or not,” one consultant adds. The salary is “stunning” after AIG’s previous boss worked for $1, writes Douglas McIntyre at 24/7 Wall St. “The government would like to press its image as populist by beating down bankers on the pay issue. It has, in one act, undermined its moral authority on the issue.” (More AIG stories.)