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Remember
AIG, the insurance company that had to be bailed out to the tune of $182
billion, the biggest federal bailout in US history?
Well, Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, the ex-CEO of AIG is back, and this time he wants $25 billion for his troubles:
Former American International Group CEO Maurice "Hank" Greenberg thinks he got a raw deal, and he wants the government to pay up. Greenberg filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims asserting that the government bailout and takeover of the insurance giant was an unconstitutional seizure of private property, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Greenberg's Starr International Co., which used to be AIG's biggest stakeholder, is seeking $25 billion in damages, based on the value of the 80 percent stake in AIG the government took after providing it with an $182 billion bailout.
Raw deal, eh?
Link (Photo: Choi Jae-Ku/AFP/Getty)
In the ongoing saga of the economic crisis, AIG has been squarely portrayed as the villains. Everybody piled on the bandwagon of villifying the greed and brazenness of their multi-million dollar bonuses (yes, including this blog).
But is that the full and true story? Here’s a letter published in the Opinion section of The New York Times – it’s a resignation letter, actually, sent by Jake DeSantis, an executive VP of the AIG’s much maligned Financial Products unit, explaining why he quit:
I am proud of everything I have done for the commodity and equity divisions of A.I.G.-F.P. I was in no way involved in — or responsible for — the credit default swap transactions that have hamstrung A.I.G. Nor were more than a handful of the 400 current employees of A.I.G.-F.P. Most of those responsible have left the company and have conspicuously escaped the public outrage.
After 12 months of hard work dismantling the company — during which A.I.G. reassured us many times we would be rewarded in March 2009 — we in the financial products unit have been betrayed by A.I.G. and are being unfairly persecuted by elected officials. In response to this, I will now leave the company and donate my entire post-tax retention payment to those suffering from the global economic downturn. My intent is to keep none of the money myself.
I take this action after 11 years of dedicated, honorable service to A.I.G. I can no longer effectively perform my duties in this dysfunctional environment, nor am I being paid to do so. Like you, I was asked to work for an annual salary of $1, and I agreed out of a sense of duty to the company and to the public officials who have come to its aid. Having now been let down by both, I can no longer justify spending 10, 12, 14 hours a day away from my family for the benefit of those who have let me down.
(Photo: jdiggans [Flickr])
An
Insatiable Greed: Bonus Time! - $9.95
First they engaged in risky business practices - including insuring trillions in risky derivatives, then their meltdown helped trigger the global economic crisis, then they asked for and got hundreds of billions in taxpayer's money in a government bailout. So, what do they do next for a job well done? Why, it's Bonus Time, of course!
What can you do? Get mad, and then get this T-shirt from Neatorama's Online Store: Link
Other T-shirts about The Economy:
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If you think that getting $170 billion in taxpayer bailout money would embarass the AIG from giving millions in bonuses, think again: the beleagured financial company is going forward with plans for $165 million of bonuses and employee retention pays … with the government’s grudging approval:
A.I.G. had set up a special bonus pool for the financial products unit early in 2008, before the company’s near collapse, when problems stemming from the mortgage crisis were becoming clear and there were concerns that some of the best-informed derivatives specialists might leave. It locked in a total amount, $450 million, for the financial products unit and prepared to pay it in a series of installments, to encourage people to stay.
Only part of the payments had been made by last fall, when A.I.G. nearly collapsed. In documents provided to the Treasury, A.I.G. said it was required to pay about $165 million in bonuses on or before Sunday. That is in addition to $55 million in December.
(Photo: threecee [Flickr])
Previously on Neatorama: Posts tagged Economic Crisis
