The near-collapse of American International Group (AIG) in 2008 came about because of the scare tactics and political ambition of one man—then New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, according to Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, former chairman and CEO of AIG, who left AIG earlier than he planned in 2005 because of Spitzer.
Executive Summary
Maurice "Hank" Greenberg helped build AIG into the world's largest insurer by forging relationships around the globe. He did not, however, have a relationship with the man he says forced him out of AIG—former N.Y. Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.Greenberg says Spitzer’s attacks weakened AIG’s management to the point where directors worried more about their own liability than about the corporation. Spitzer also distracted executives who dropped many risk management practices that had been in effect during decades of growth and had kept the financial products division from engaging in the type of very high-risk endeavors that eventually led to AIG’s financial problems.
