Hank Greenberg

20 Stories

Ex-AIG CEO Sues US Over Bailout

They say takeover violated investors' fifth amendment rights

(Newser) - Former AIG CEO Hank Greenberg is suing the US government for $25 million for having the effrontery to bail out the dying insurer. Greenberg was ousted in 2005 after allegedly cooking AIG’s books to inflate its value, but still had a keen interest in the company during the bailout,...

AIG Settles With Ex-CEO: Will Pay Fees, Return Rug

Company agrees to shell out up to $150 million

(Newser) - AIG is done fighting with former CEO Hank Greenberg and will give him his Persian rug back. The taxpayer-owned insurance giant agreed to settle all legal disputes with Greenberg and former CFO Howard I. Smith. The company agreed to pay up to $150 million in legal fees to the two...

Ousted AIG CEO Builds AIG 2— With AIG Talent

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...

Dow Climbs 37 on Day 8 of Streak
 Dow Climbs 37 
 on Day 8 of Streak 
MARKETS
Aug 27, 2009 3:19 PM CDT

Dow Climbs 37 on Day 8 of Streak

Eight-day winning stretch is first in 28 months

(Newser) - Stocks closed up today as the Dow continued its modest winning streak for an eighth day—the longest period of gains in 28 months—though trading volume remained light, the Wall Street Journal reports. An auction of 7-year Treasury notes saw decent demand. AIG shares rose 28.8% on reports...

Ex-AIG Honcho Settles New SEC Case for $15M

(Newser) - The SEC today simultaneously announced a complaint against former AIG chief Hank Greenberg and the resolution of the matter—a $15 million payment to settle the suit, the New York Times reports. Greenberg and a former AIG CFO were accused of “numerous improper accounting transactions” between 2000 and 2005...

AIG Comes Out Swinging in $4.3B Lawsuit vs. Ex-CEO

(Newser) - AIG 's longtime CEO sold crucial assets in 2005 out of spite, the company's lawyers charged as they opened their civil suit against the ousted exec today in New York. “Hank Greenberg was mad. He was angry,” said a lawyer for the bailed-out mega-insurer. Greenberg was weeks away...

AIG Bailout Has Failed: Greenberg

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...

Former AIG Chief Greenberg to Testify Today

'I don't feel any responsibility,' 38-year CEO says of AIG

(Newser) - Former AIG chief Maurice “Hank” Greenberg will go before a House committee on Capitol Hill today, testifying about the world-wide conglomerate that is now the most infamous culprit of the financial crisis, despite efforts by both the GOP and current AIG management to undercut his credibility. Greenberg is expected...

Ex AIG Boss: It's Not My Fault

Says he doesn't back retention bonuses

(Newser) - AIG’s former CEO tells CBS that the bonuses now sparking national outrage would not have happened under his watch. Hank Greenberg, ousted in 2005, said he doesn’t back such retention bonuses, blamed the firm's collapse on the "stupidity" of his successors, and thinks the current CEO should...

Hill Grilled the Wrong AIG Guy
 Hill Grilled the Wrong AIG Guy 
OPINION
Mar 19, 2009 12:44 PM CDT

Hill Grilled the Wrong AIG Guy

(Newser) - Edward Liddy’s much-ballyhooed testimony yesterday—Chris Matthews billed it as “Watergate Redux”—didn’t wind up accomplishing much, “aside from revealing congressional ignorance of all things financial,” Daniel Gross writes in Slate. Yes, Liddy currently runs the reviled AIG, but he wasn’t running it...

AIG's Downfall, Part 2: 'Almost Free Money'

Credit default swaps change the game

(Newser) - According to the computer models, credit default swaps almost couldn’t fail. They were the latest derivative contract in 1998, and AIG Financial Products decided to get on board, the Washington Post reports, in the second part of its series on the insurer’s self-destruction. When AIG struck its first...

How AIG Destroyed Itself (Part I)

Part 1

(Newser) - The roots of the current financial crisis can be traced back to a series of lunches and late-night dinners between two relatively unknown junk-bond traders 20 years ago. Howard Sosin and Randy Rackson had a plan to change the way the financial world did business, provided they could find a...

Big Players Reel in Charity Spending

Drop-off in corporate giving leaves groups scrambling

(Newser) - Charities used to getting much of their money from major corporations and private foundations are feeling the economic downturn, the Wall Street Journal reports. Bill Gates’ foundation plans to give fewer grants next year, and other large donors are honoring existing pledges but refusing to make new ones. “You...

Bankrupt AIG Might Have Been Better Than Bailout

Experts say letting insurer file bankruptcy would have been a better, cheaper, plan

(Newser) - The government’s $143 billion bailout of AIG is looking more and more like an expensive example of good money following bad, as financial experts are concluding that bankruptcy would have been better for both the insurance giant and taxpayers, reports the Washington Post. AIG has burned through more than...

Ex-AIG Chair Seeks Cushier Bailout Terms

Greenberg files letter with SEC asking for less 'onerous' deal

(Newser) - With the Fed now injecting capital directly into Wall Street's spiraling banks, AIG's former chairman worries the company got shafted, the Wall Street Journal reports. The insurer will go under if the government doesn't change its bailout terms from a two-year, high-interest loan to 10-year nonvoting preferred stock, Hank Greenberg...

AIG Execs Took Spa Week After $85B Bailout

Former CEOs appear before skeptical House to defend spending

(Newser) - After being bailed out by Washington, AIG executives engaged in some conspicuous consumption, and it’s still going on, Portfolio reports. Two former CEOs of the insurance giant testified before the House today, and lawmakers took them to task for reckless compensation and an executive retreat at a California spa...

Fed Considers AIG Bailout; Ex-CEO Weighs Proxy Fight

Hank Greenberg, forced out in 2005, among investors mulling options

(Newser) - Reversing course, the Fed is considering a bailout package to help boost the liquidity of suddenly beleaguered AIG, even as the mega-insurer's ex-CEO considers a move to take control through a proxy fight or buyout, Bloomberg reports. In a regulatory filing, Hank Greenberg, who retired under pressure in 2005, says...

Feisty Exec Straddles Two Financial Crises
Feisty Exec Straddles Two Financial Crises
GLOSSIES
Jun 17, 2008 7:50 PM CDT

Feisty Exec Straddles Two Financial Crises

Greenberg's clout evident in AIG ouster, bailout of Lehman

(Newser) - At age 83, Hank Greenberg is on anything but a quiet path to retirement. The legendary exec is smack in the middle of two of the biggest financial stories of the day—the upheaval at insurance giant AIG and the struggle to salvage Lehman Brothers. Portfolio looks at Greenberg's reversal...

Jury Convicts Ex-Insurance Execs in Fraud

Five General Re and AIG officials face jail over scheme to deceive investors

(Newser) - A federal jury yesterday convicted five former insurance executives of fraud, conspiracy, and making false statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of a scheme to deceive investors, Bloomberg reports. The convictions stem from a sham transaction in 2000 between General Reinsurance Corp. and American International Group that...

Goldman Hedge Fund Gets $3B Infusion
Goldman Hedge Fund Gets
$3B Infusion
Aug 13, 2007 11:38 AM CDT

Goldman Hedge Fund Gets $3B Infusion

Investors fund bailout after assets evaporate; markets breathe

(Newser) - A struggling Goldman Sachs hedge fund will get a $3 billion cash infusion, with a third of the bail-out coming from wealthy investors and the rest from the bank itself. Global Equity Opportunities Fund has seen assets drop by 28%, to $3.6 billion, over the last two weeks, as...

20 Stories