AIG’s Big ‘Screw You’ to America

In the ultimate act of corporate greed, insurance giant American International Group–which received a bailout from the government to the tune of $182 billion–is showing what a truly unscrupulous and morally bankrupt organization it is by mulling whether to join a lawsuit against Uncle Sam over unfair bailout terms.

Ironically enough, AIG is currently running an ad campaign with the tagline “thank you, America.” Perhaps a more apropos ad slogan, if it does decide to join the $25 billion lawsuit against the government, would be “thank you, America — now go fuck yourself.” Because by suing its saviors, that’s exactly the message the company is sending.

The New York Times:

Behind the scenes, the restored insurance company is weighing whether to tell the government agencies that rescued it during the financial crisis: thanks, but you cheated our shareholders.

The board of A.I.G. will meet on Wednesday to consider joining a $25 billion shareholder lawsuit against the government, court records show. The lawsuit does not argue that government help was not needed. It contends that the onerous nature of the rescue — the taking of what became a 92 percent stake in the company, the deal’s high interest rates and the funneling of billions to the insurer’s Wall Street clients — deprived shareholders of tens of billions of dollars and violated the Fifth Amendment, which prohibits the taking of private property for “public use, without just compensation.”

Maurice R. Greenberg, A.I.G.’s former chief executive, who remains a major investor in the company, filed the lawsuit in 2011 on behalf of fellow shareholders. He has since urged A.I.G. to join the case, a move that could nudge the government into settlement talks.

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— Posted by Tracy Bloom.