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Tony Ondrusek is founder and publisher of Insurance & Financial Advisor and IFAwebnews.com.

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First, Hank Greenberg denied that he was “stealing” top talent from AIG and hiring them at his new company. (click herefor story) Greenberg asserted that AIG itself and government intervention was forcing executives from the firm that Greenberg himself built into a billion-dollar-plus behemoth. But the truth is, Greenberg appears to be replicating his success at AIG. (click here for previous blog post)

Then, last week, AIG’s new CEO told the board that he was ready to jump ship after only three months at the helm. (click here for story) Robert H. Benmosche apparently was fed up with federal government intervention into the company and its executive compensation practices. AIG has received $182 billion in government bailouts and is under increasing government and public scrutiny.

But a few days later, Benmosche pulled an “oops” and said that he was only frustrated, and had no intention of leaving. (click herefor story).  Benmosche, who came to AIG after being CEO at MetLife, can earn a tidy little sum of slightly more than $10 million for one year’s work if he can keep the company afloat.

Evan Newmark, writing on his Wall Street Journal blog, believes that Benmosche is just what AIG and the taxpayers who are propping it up need: a strong and decisive leader. (click here for story)

Let’s hope that Benmosche is all that, and able to squash an exodus of executives ditching AIG for greener pastures (no pun related to Greenberg), and that he can keep his remarks to the AIG board above board and under wraps.

3 Responses

1. K Telfair Says:
   November 12th, 2009 at 6:31 pm

   America/Americans should be outraged…not over this but over a AIG’s hiring practices as it relates to qualified candidates who have problem credit resulting from this economic calamity we are all in.

   Just recently I was denied an opportunity to interview for an AIG position which I am more than qualified for because I have credit problems. My problems are due solely to being unemployed for well over a year and virtually no income to speak of. I explained this to the HR folks at AIG and they said they would have to contact New York to get a decision, they did and New York (Corporate) said no go.

   My heart sank when I got the news. Opportunities are few and far between. Then I got angry because it is our hard earned federal tax dollars that has kept AIG afloat during AIG’s period of financial turmoil.

   It is a travesty that AIG has such a rigid human resources policy concerning credit especially for positions that do not lend themselves to such credit scrutiny. I firmly believe that a firm that has been bailed out by the American taxpayer should be more compassionate to those same taxpayers when they are in need. The American taxpayer did not create this crisis, Corporate America did.

   Their are over 10 million of us unemployed and we all have something to offer potential employers. Credit problems are a natural fallout of hard economic times. We are not second class citizens because we now have impaired credit. For most of my life I had credit scores in the 750-800 range and now, under the weight of the economic collapse, I don’t even know if they have score for me. I am a hard working, honest citizen looking for gainful employment to rescue my family from all of this. We are not criminals.

   I emailed Mr. Benmosche and got no response, I guess he was to busy haggling with the Treasury over pay limits to be so bothered by one lowly job applicant. So forgive me if I show the same level of empathy over his plight. More importantly every single American whether employed or not should stand up and be heard on this issue because it could be someone you know or are close that this happens to next!

   If AIG is going to be rigid in this policy they should not be doing business in America or marketing policies to the same people they refuse to interview for employment.

   I wrote to all the major Newspapers about this but it feel on deaf ears, not a big story to them. Well it is a big story to me and I am hear to tell it.

   If someone wants to contact me about they may do so at: telf1[at]epix[dot]net.

   This is the AIG new story of the day, not some story about an unhappy CEO who is not winning the compensation haggle debate with the Treasury. I would be happy with whatever I was getting paid in this economy and be quite as a church mouse in the corner.

   News people come on, get this story out ! It is a travesty of justice to allow a bail out company to deny any American a job opportunity because they have problem credit in today’s economy, especially when they are using $80 billion of our hard earned tax dollars!

   K. Telfair

2. I. Arnold, ARM Says:
   November 18th, 2009 at 12:40 am

   Congress should look into using credit scores in this economy to prevent from hiring people, especially without regard to mitigating factors like the current economy. Unfortunately, credit scoring has been used so long in hiring practices that it is has become the norm, unregulated and misused. How can we expect to get hard working honest people employed and off of unemployment if there are no federal guidelines as when and how credit scoring should be used by employers. If there is no federal oversight, then the subject of rejection of qualified candidates based on bad credit scores caused by this recession will unnecessarily prolong our nation’s economic recovery.

3. Catherine Shorrock Says:
   December 9th, 2009 at 4:39 pm

   At last the truth!

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