NY Probes AIG's Golden Parachutes, Spending

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»

Under fire for blunt talk, Benmosche pursues real passion: grapes

(NEWSER) - New AIG chief Robert Benmosche has garnered reams of bad coverage since taking over the train-wreck insurer—and nearly a month into the job, he's still at his holiday villa in Croatia. Reuters visited Benmosche at his coastal idyll and finds his true passion to be not finance but the Zinfandel grapes he's growing. "I want the estate I leave behind to be a viable business," Benmosche says—by which he means his vineyard, not bailed-out AIG. More»

(NEWSER) - Robert Benmosche has been at the head of AIG for 48 hours now, so naturally it's time for a vacation. The new CEO of the four-times-bailed-out insurer is leaving for his 8,000-square foot villa on the Adriatic for the next two weeks. "It’s probably not a propitious time for an incoming CEO to begin with a vacation," one HR manager tells Bloomberg. More»

NY AG releases breakdown of bonus figures; plans to press AIG for names

(NEWSER) - AIG's $165 million in bonuses went 418 different ways, according to one angry attorney general. Other figures released by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who subpoenaed the firm on Monday:

• 73 employees received bonuses of $1 million or more
• 11 of those people no longer work for AIG
• 7 employees received bonuses of more than $4 million
• The top recipient received a $6.4 million bonus

Liddy says paying employees will help taxpayer in long run

(NEWSER) - AIG's $165 million bonus payout has produced "a palpable wave of anger," admits Edward Liddy, the insurance giant's government-appointed CEO. But in an op-ed for the Washington Post, Liddy says that paying employees now will prevent "undue risk" and help AIG wind down the most dangerous positions on its book. He adds that "had I been chief executive at the time, I would never have approved the retention contracts." More»