I’m having a hard time thinking of a more tone deaf corporate decision than this one from AIG,
American International Group Inc. spent $440,000 on a conference at a California resort less than a week after an $85-billion government takeover, lawmakers said.
Before that even sunk in, exhausted and broke taxpayers were greeted with this news,
AIG Gets More Government Bailout Cash
Only one day after it was revealed that AIG had sprung for a $440,000 spa vacation shortly after getting an $84 billion government-loan bailout comes this report: The government is loaning AIG another $38 billion.
AIG, the world’s largest insurer, said it has already drawn down $61 billion on its $84 billion line of credit from the government. AIG’s financial products division got into the mortgage-backed securities market and incurred billions in losses, sending the entire company teetering toward bankruptcy. The $84 billion loan was meant to help prop up AIG.
Portfolio’s Felix Salmon says AIG is paying 12.83% interest on that $61 billion, more or less. It is insane to think that a company with a trillion dollar balance sheet can mismanage its way out of business.
Remember when $37 billion was a big deal? Those were the days. Unfortunately, AIG is not done draining our pockets. Where it ends, nobody knows.