AIG: Help Wanted, But Will Anyone Apply?
Help Wanted: If you have what it takes to rescue a nearly bankrupt insurer with high turnover, curtail the turmoil in the executive suite and institute a repayment plan for $83 billion in debt, then you could be the right person for this job.
Citing “sources familiar,” the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the U.S. Treasury, which owns 80 percent of American International Group, hired an executive search firm to “seek out possible candidates that it may appoint to AIG’s board.”
But there are several stumbling blocks that might discourage nominees. It seems that more people want out of the company than in. And one of the current trustees, El Paso Corp. CEO Douglas Foshee, who represents the taxpayer’s stake, wants to escape but was apparently persuaded to remain.
Foshee’s attempt to bolt is eerily reminiscent of CEO Robert Benmosche’s threat to resign earlier this 
month. He too was talked out of it but - again according to the WSJ - the matter will come to a head at this Tuesday’s board meeting.
Benmosche is the fifth CEO AIG has had in recent years. Two were fired, one split after less than three months and one was more than happy to go after a year of abuse.
AIG remains a company that is effectively in receivership, independent in name only, and operating under a structure where pay is limited. Anyone who feels he’s worth more than the $500,000 that executive pay czar Ken Feinberg is offering can certainly jump ship and find employment elsewhere in an increasingly resurgent Wall Street, where at least $30 billion in bonuses will be given out at year end, more than enough to bail out California.
Then there’s the unanswered question of why the Treasury’s headhunters are looking for more board members? The answer: in early November AIG missed a fourth quarterly interest payment on the money it owes under the TARP program, giving the Treasury the right to appoint up to three more members to the already unwieldy 11-member board.
If interested, all you need do is sign on the dotted line.
Ed Leefeldt is an award-winning investigative and business journalist who has worked for Reuters, Bloomberg and Dow Jones, and is the author of The Woman Who Rode the Wind, a novel about early flight.
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