Bailed-out insurance giant AIG will no doubt be a heated topic of discussion today, with The Wall Street Journal and other news organizations reporting that the failed and essentially insolvent company is vowing to pay out $450 million in bonuses to its “top performers” — you know, the folks in the financial products unit, many of whom contributed to bringing the company to ruin and helped tank the entire economy in the process.
Update (03-15-2009): “There are a lot of terrible things that have happened in the last 18 months, but what’s happened at AIG is the most outrageous,” Lawrence Summers, chairman of the White House National Economic Council, said this morning on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos. “What that company did, the way it was not regulated, the way no one was watching, what’s proved necessary, it is outrageous.” (ABC, “Widespread Backlash Over AIG Bonuses“)
Update (03-16-2009): AIG revealed on Sunday details of $105 billion of government funds that it paid to U.S. and international banks including Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale. (Source: MarketWatch)
Update 2 (03-16-2009): Obama Orders Treasury Chief to Try to Block A.I.G. Bonuses (Source: NYTimes)
Update 3 (03-16-2009): NY AG Seeking Info On Who Received Bonuses At AIG (Source: CNNMoney)
Update 4 (03-16-2009): AIG details $105 billion in payouts (Source: MarketWatch)
AIG Facts:
- The company (AIG) takes $170 billion in taxpayer money to keep itself afloat.
- Just this month, the company (AIG) reported a loss of $61.7 billion for the fourth quarter of last year — the largest corporate loss in history.
- AIG’s board of directors page (the company’s “top performers”)
Source: Washington Independent, AP
