Just when you thought the economic crisis couldn't get any worse, along come the piggy employees of AIG, bellying up to the bar to slurp down $450M in TARP taxpayer dollars.
That sound outside your window? It's the outrage of taxpayers everywhere whose money is now going to - wait for it - RETAIN the idiots that drove AIG into the ground.
Hard to believe, but management - and I use that term loosely when referring to AIG because it's looking a lot like a ship with no one at the helm - is insisting that these fine executives be kept on board what appears to be the Titanic.
As reported by Bloomberg, "About 400 workers at the financial products unit may get the money in two installments, said the people, who declined to be named because details of the payments were confidential. The business was responsible for about $34 billion in writedowns since 2007 as the market value of swaps AIG sold to banks plunged amid the subprime mortgage market collapse."
My bold in the quote - their bold in thinking they'd be able to pull this off. Looks like I'm wrong, though - it's done.
It would be impossible to make up a more insane plotline for a Hollywood film. The annals of business history are littered with people who have done incredibly stupid things - 'Chainsaw' Al Dunlap, Mr. Ponzi, Bernard Madoff...well, you get the picture. Somehow, we always think that's in the past. But the AIG bonus gambit is an example in our time of the behavior that drove the French to the barricades during their revolution.
AIG's management is looking an awful lot like Marie Antoinette.
Have your air sickness bag at hand, then click here to read the entire story and get extremely angry.
AIG has lost its traditional good reputation and respect within few months. Now we can see last year problems were natural result of their management. Stockholders and managements are often divided by big wall and then we can see how one of the biggest companies in world loses 95% of its share value like it's nothing. Luckily, AIG Life of Canada was purchased by Bank of Montreal and our insurance market is a bit calmer again...
Lorne,Toronto
Posted by: disability insurance | February 05, 2009 at 04:04 PM