Gawker: Aig

Our Man in Egypt Works for Egypt

John Cook — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 16:29:42 EST

Frank Wisner, our special envoy to Egypt and Barack Obama's point man for managing the ongoing crisis there, planted a big wet kiss on Hosni Mubarak over the weekend when he told attendees of a German security conference that Mubarak "must stay in office," which is not even remotely close to what Barack Obama has been saying. More »

Your Hard-Earned Money Kept Spencer Gifts Open for Business

Jeff Neumann — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 06:18:42 EDT

Just in time for Tax Day, the Fed has released the numbers from the Bearn Stearns and AIG troubled asset purchases. Congratulations! You, American Taxpayer, are the proud owner of a shopping mall in Oklahoma City. [BusinessWeek] More »

The Wall Street Lawyer-Turned-Psychotherapist

cityfile — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:28:00 EST

Harvard grad Will Meyerhofer used to be a lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell, the white shoe firm that represents the likes of AIG and Goldman Sachs. After doing his "part in destroying the nation's economy," he had a change of heart, went back to school, and became a psychotherapist. Now sees clients on a sliding scale, ranging from $10/hour for people who couldn't otherwise afford therapy to $200/hour for his former colleagues, who, we imagine, have a lot to get off their chests considering how much work they continue to do for both AIG and Goldman. [Above the Law] More »

AIG Employees Understand the Meaning of Sacrifice

cityfile — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:05:00 EST

Let's all take a moment to thank our friends at AIG. In the spirit of generosity, employees at the ruined insurance giant have agreed to a $20 million reduction in the $195 million in bonus payments they were previously promised. They didn't have to do it. But they did. To make you happy. Can't we all get along now? [WSJ] More »

No Bonus? No Problem! Goldman Sachs Offers Mortgages to Cash-Strapped Bankers

John Cook — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:49:09 EST

Wall Street is cutting back on cash bonuses, which means paper-rich banksters are forced to choose between preschool tuition and new wine cellars until their restricted shares mature. Goldman Sachs is lending a hand by offering mortgages to its staff. More »

Geithner Gets Grilled

cityfile — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:54:00 EST

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner got the pounding he was most certainly expecting when he headed to Capitol Hill today to answer questions about the bailout of AIG. If you missed it because you spent the entire afternoon discussing that new unfortunately-named oversized iPhone that Apple introduced today, you can watch one of the more heated exchanges after the jump. More »

Everybody Is Yelling at Tim Geithner

John Cook — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:30:14 EST

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is on Capitol Hill today, facing a barrage of camera-friendly and self-righteous (and justified!) bipartisan posturing from members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform over the AIG bailout. It's been testy. More »

AIG Hasn't Learned a Thing

cityfile — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:42:00 EST

After everything that's happened over the past year and half, you'd think it would be obvious to AIG and its CEO Robert Benmosche that the company probably shouldn't be using its five (yes, five) corporate jets to ferry AIG execs off on vacation. You'd be wrong. Fortunately, Benmosche and government regulators have now settled on a "Luxury Expenditure Policy," so when Benmosche diverts one of AIG's planes to stop off at his vacation home in Croatia in the future, he'll have to reimburse the company for the flight. [WSJ, Reuters] More »

AIG Has Another Salvage Operation On Its Hands

cityfile — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:53:00 EST

A subsidiary of wrecked insurance giant AIG is now auctioning off the wrecked Airbus that Sully Sullenberger landed in the Hudson a year ago. [AIG Aviation] More »

AIG Fight Backs

cityfile — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:07:00 EST

Remember those protests outside AIG last fall? Those angry hearings in Washington? The bus trips to visit the suburban homes of AIG executives. The populist anger has subsided a good deal since then (even if the bill to bail out the firm has gone up), which is probably why five AIG executives are now threatening to quit the company if their pay is cut by Washington. [WSJ] More »

Bailed Out AIG Execs: We Want More Money

Ravi Somaiya — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 07:32:08 EST

Five AIG executives don't care that the government had to bail their company out because they were utterly inept. They want their full 'compensation' or they'll quit. More »

How the Credit Rating Agencies Engineered the Goldman Sachs Bailout

John Cook — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:36:42 EST

Last year's financial collapse was made possible by the greed and incompetence of credit rating agencies, who got paid to lie about the value of subprime debt. It turns out they were responsible for the Goldman Sachs bailout, too. More »

AIG Only Wanted to Give Goldman Sachs 40 60 Cents on the Dollar, Then Geithner Stepped In

John Cook — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:51:38 EDT

40 60 Cents on the Dollar, Then Geithner Stepped In" alt="Click here to read AIG Only Wanted to Give Goldman Sachs 40 60 Cents on the Dollar, Then Geithner Stepped In" src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/7/2009/10/custom_1256672689642_geithner_01.jpg"/>

Thanks to Bloomberg News, we now have a good idea how much of that $13 billion pass-through bailout Goldman Sachs got from AIG last year was pure taxpayer-financed gravy: $5.2 billion, courtesy Tim Geithner. More »

AIG Doesn't Know How Many Millions of Dollars It's Paying Its Execs to Fail

John Cook — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:33:31 EDT

When Ken Feinberg, the guy Obama charged with reining in bonuses at bailed-out firms, asked AIG who its top-paid executives were, they couldn't answer. That place is a black hole of money. More »

Rich Guys Who Got Federal Money Won't Get Richer This Year

John Cook — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:03:47 EDT

The Treasury Department's soon-to-be-announced executive pay guidelines will drastically slash cash payouts to executives at GM, Citibank, AIG, Bank of America, and Chrysler. Not on the list: AIG pass-through beneficiary Goldman Sachs. More »

Andrew Ross Sorkin's Front Row Seat to the End Of The World

Anthony De Rosa — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:27:42 EDT

Andrew Ross Sorkin's Too Big To Fail describes, in intimate detail, the days leading up to the collapse of the biggest financial institutions in America. Did the men in that room pull us from the brink or push us over? More »

AIG Is Making Money Again

John Cook — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 12:22:37 EDT

Is that good or bad? We just don't know anymore in this topsy-turvy world of bailouts and bonuses and government ownership of corporate monsters. But whatever—AIG pulled in a cool $1.8 billion last quarter. More »

Things Sure Seem To Be Looking Up

cityfile — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 09:25:00 EDT

Is that economic improvement we see? The Labor Department announced today that the unemployment rate dropped from 9.5 percent to 9.4 percent last month—even though analysts had been expecting it to increase—and while 247,000 American jobs were lost during July, that's the fewest number of losses since last August. It this evidence that things are going to be peachy keen from here on out? Not really. More »

AIG Is Now an ATM

cityfile — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 09:55:00 EDT

AIG has been a big disaster the last few months, hasn't it? Not if you happen to work for Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, or BlackRock, or any of the other dozen or so banks and law firms expected to rake in as much as $1 billion breaking apart the insurance giant. But at least one firm involved in the process is making it clear that they see this as a civic mission—not just a convenient way to generate fat fees. The law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell has generously offered up a 10 percent discount on its services, so it's only billing the federal government $950 an hour for legal advice. Thanks, guys! [WSJ] More »

AIG Not the Resume-Killer You Expected It to Be

cityfile — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:25:00 EDT

Mayor Bloomberg's pick to be the city's new finance commissioner is David Frankel, "a former managing director at Morgan Stanley" and former "senior vice president at a unit of American International Group." Now there's a confidence builder! [NYT/Dealbook] More »

Your Tax Dollars at Work

John Cook — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:22:19 EDT

The St. Regis Monarch Beach, the rich-people hotel that AIG executives partied at after getting all their bailout money, couldn't pay its bills and so now a bailed-out Citigroup owns it. And it's losing money. Your money. More »

Wall Street: Thursday Edition

cityfile — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:03:00 EDT

• Just in case you've missed the excitement on TV, Ben Bernanke appeared on Capitol Hill today to testify about Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch. Lawmakers grilled him, Bernanke played defense: quality entertainment as usual! [NYT, WSJ] More »

AIG Not Helping You Hate Them Less

cityfile — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:43:00 EDT

The financial collapse has gifted us with some first-class public relations kerfuffles—those bonuses at AIG and the big three automakers arriving in DC via private jet, to name just two—and there might be another one on the horizon. AIG is giving the survivors of the Miracle on the Hudson plane crash a hard time about reimbursing them for their lost property, medical care and therapy bills. More »

AIG Unloads Downtown Real Estate

cityfile — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 08:07:00 EDT

Good news from AIG headquarters: The scandal-ridden insurance company is close to ironing out a deal to sell its two buildings downtown, 70 Pine and 72 Wall Street. The buyer, which is expected to pay around $100 million for the property, is an overseas company with plans to turn the towers into a residential/retail development. [NYP] More »

Wall Street: Monday Morning

cityfile — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 06:59:00 EDT

• As expected, General Motors filed for bankruptcy protection this morning, citing more than $172 billion in debts. [WSJ, NYT, CNN, BN] More »

Another Failed CEO Bites the Bullet

cityfile — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:53:00 EDT

Yesterday it was revealed that former Lehman chief Dick Fuld had stepped down as the bankrupt firm's chairman. Now another symbol of the economic collapse is heading off into the sunset. Ed Liddy, the chairman and CEO of AIG, has announced plans to step down from the scandal-plagued insurance giant, although he may be there for a while considering he plans to remain here until the company comes up with a suitable replacement. The good news? There is now a little bit of light at the end of Liddy's dark tunnel, and he should have a chance to trade the self-tanning mist in his office for some real sun in the near future. [NYT] More »

Wall Street: Thursday Morning

cityfile — Thu, 14 May 2009 06:41:00 EDT

• AIG's Ed Liddy now says the company will need three to five years to carry out its restructuring plan and repay taxpayer bailout money. [NYT] More »

Wall Street: Wednesday Morning

cityfile — Wed, 13 May 2009 06:41:00 EDT

• Disappointing retail sales figures and a surprising rise in the number of foreclosures are sending stocks lower this morning. [CNN, WSJ] More »

Wall Street: Tuesday Morning

cityfile — Tue, 12 May 2009 06:56:00 EDT

• Bank of America sold off a $7.3 billion stake in China Construction Bank as it seeks to raise cash. Good news: only $26.6 billion to go! [DB] More »

Wall Street: Monday Morning

cityfile — Mon, 11 May 2009 06:41:00 EDT

• The market has been up big the last few weeks. But the ride may be over. "The market has gone too far, too fast," as one fund manager puts it. [BN] More »

Wall Street: Friday Morning

cityfile — Fri, 08 May 2009 06:48:00 EDT

• Employers only cut 539,000 in April, which was slightly better than Wall Street expectations and an improvement over the month of March. But the unemployment rate rose to 8.9 percent, which is a 25-year high. [WSJ, NYT] More »

Wall Street: Thursday Morning

cityfile — Thu, 07 May 2009 06:52:00 EDT

• Bank of America chief Ken Lewis and several federal officials will be asked to testify under oath as part of an investigation into whether BofA was pressured by the government into completing its deal with Merrill Lynch. [WSJ] More »

Wall Street: Wednesday Morning

cityfile — Wed, 06 May 2009 06:44:00 EDT

• Bank of America chief Ken Lewis won't be in a good mood today, that's for sure. Regulators have informed the bank that it will have to come up with $34 billion in new capital if it expects to weather the downturn. [WSJ, NYT] More »

Wall Street: Monday Morning

cityfile — Mon, 04 May 2009 06:40:00 EDT

• President Obama will propose new laws today to crack down on companies and wealthy individuals who use a variety of tax loopholes to move their assets offshore and avoid paying taxes. [WSJ, BN] More »

Wall Street: Friday Morning

cityfile — Fri, 01 May 2009 07:54:00 EDT

• Who said the good times are over? On the list of the 10 highest-paid CEOs of 2008: Vikram Pandit, Jamie Dimon, Lloyd Blankfein, and Ken Chenault. [AP] More »

Wall Street: Thursday Morning

cityfile — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 06:38:00 EDT

• It looks like Chrysler will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today after last-minute negotiations with creditors failed to result in a deal. [BN] More »

Wall Street: Tuesday Morning

cityfile — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 06:25:00 EDT

• Not such good news for Bank of America and Citigroup this morning: It looks like both have come up short on the so-called stress tests conducted by regulators and may be forced to raise billions in additional capital. [WSJ] More »

Wall Street: Monday Morning

cityfile — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:35:00 EDT

• Stocks are down in early trading today as investors brace for disappointing earnings as well as signs the recession is getting worse. [WSJ, BN] More »

Wall Street: Friday Morning

cityfile — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 06:54:00 EDT

• Citigroup posted its first profit in 18 months today, which made Wall Street very happy and sent Citi shares up to a whopping $4. [WSJ, DB] More »

Wall Street: Thursday Morning

cityfile — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 06:48:00 EDT

• JPMorgan Chase reported a $2.1 billion profit in the first quarter, exceeding estimates. Unlike Goldman, though, Jamie Dimon says the bank hasn't decided whether to return the $25 billion it's received in bailout money. [DB, WSJ, BN] More »