Say what you will about 70 Pine Street– the headquarters of AIG, the most majestic insurance company/hedge fund in all the land, but we’ve all had some good times there, whether directly or as the indirect beneficiaries of stuff that went down. It’s incredibly emotional even just to think about the fact that the company is moving out of the building but in times of great sadness like these, we must put on a brave face, celebrate, and pay homage. To that end, management is throwing a little party next week to mark the end of the era. Refreshments– presumably alcoholic in nature, as is fitting– will be served and while the invite doesn’t say, we’re just going to assume that reenactments of the “best of” moments will take place. Such as:
- The day Hank Greenberg signed off on AIG-FP and Joe Casanno saying by calling him “one of the greats”
- The earnings conference call in May of 2008 when they announced they were raising capital AND raising their dividend
- The time Goldman Sachs sent two dudes over in the middle of the night to shove Ed Liddy’s head in a toilet while the following dialogue took place:
GS Thug: Where’s the money, Liddy? Where’s the fucking money, shithead?
Liddy: It’s uh… uh… it’s down there somewhere, let me take another look. Continue reading »
“[Cassano] even went so far as to claim that he might have been able to help minimize the government’s bailout of AIG. Part of the money spent to save the company was funneled to more than a dozen banks that had taken out insurance contracts against AIG defaulting on its debt. “I think I would have negotiated a much better deal for taxpayers,” said Cassano, who left the company in March 2008 after the insurer reported more than $11 billion in losses within his division for the fourth quarter of 2007.” [CNN Money]
Just trying to do the right thing.
But they said no, Joe, no. You, our adorable little Jon Lovitz lookalike, deserve this. We won’t have it any other way. You have done so much for this company! Letting you walk away without $315 million would be practically criminal. Would you like that in unmarked, non-consecutive twenties? Singles? Briefcase or g-string?
Joe Cassano’s Testimony
In November 2007, it became apparent that AIG-FP’s accounting losses would be substantial and would require a change to our compensation structure to ensure that employees stayed with the company to help it address the issues surrounding the AIG-FP portfolio, but also would not be immune to AIG-FP’s losses if they were actually realized. I had several discussions with my superiors at AIG about this change, emphasizing the need to recognize the accounting losses while also noting the importance of keeping our employees together during this critical time. For that reason, I suggested that AIG-FP adopt a special-incentive plan (”SIP”), which would place any compensation in excess of a set amount in a special deferred-compensation account. The funds in that account would remain subject to AIG-FP’s business performance and the risk of realization of the accounting losses.
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So, remember those $165 million in retention bonuses paid to AIGFP employees that a lot of people got their panties in a bunch over earlier this year? So much so that the recipients were guilted into giving the money back? For the most part, they never did (only about $19 million has been forked over). Some of the staff decided to leave the company, and take their cash with them. Others are said to be holding on to it until they receive more color on how badly the Compensation Cop might screw them. We actually don’t really care what their reason is for not living up to the promise, because there’s a much more serious issue to be addressed. That issue is Andrew Cuomo. Back when this whole thing went down, you’ll recall, Andy nearly gave himself a hernia shouting in public about how he was going to bust open the knee-caps of anyone who didn’t turn over their bonus to him, ASAP. He also threatened to reveal their names if things his demands weren’t met. Now? He could give give a rat’s ass.
When the controversy erupted in March, Cuomo agreed to keep the employees’ identities secret as long as a significant share of the money was returned to the company. Some of them said his demand amounted to blackmail. But AIG officials said at the time that at least 18 of firm’s top 25 executives had agreed to return at least some of their bonus money. “We are deeply gratified that a vast majority of FP’s senior leadership have expressed a willingness to forsake their recent retention payments,” the company said.
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We were going to spend some time making fun of the fact that the cost of the fight to seize Snowflake’s not-quite-a-billion-dollar inheritance from AIG’s Hank Greenberg is fast approaching the $120 million paid to AIG employees in Bonuses and other compensation earlier this year, except that latter figure has been revised upward just a bit in the interim- from $120 million to $454 million. Of course, this latest figure has little to do with the accursed AIG Financial Products division (AIGFP) anymore, instead representing “other forms of compensation across all of its businesses” as opposed to “what was paid to executives at the company’s headquarters and high-ranking officials at various AIG units.” But, seriously, what kind of fun is it to say “Quickly approaching the sums spent by AIG on “executives at the company’s headquarters and high-ranking officials at various AIG units”?
AIG’s Bonuses Inflate To $454m [The New York Post]
