Andrew Sorkin - Too Big to Fail - The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the FinancialSystem--and Themselves

155 Greenberg’s upbringing: Reports conflict on Greenberg’s age at the time of his father’s death. This author has chosen to go with the age listed in Shelp, Fallen Giant , 95-96.

155 Greenberg talked his way into a job as a $75-a-week insurance underwriting trainee: “On a whim, he wandered into the offices of Continental Casualty in lower Manhattan in 1953 and talked his way into the office of the personnel director. Greenberg thought the man was excessively rude, so he stormed into the office of a vice president and told him that Continental’s personnel director was a ‘jerk.’ He was rewarded with a job as a $75-a-week underwriting trainee. Before the end of the decade, he was Continental’s assistant vice president in charge of accident and health insurance.” See Devin Leonard, “Greenberg & Sons,” Fortune, February 21, 2005.

155 C.V. Starr’s story and AIG: Ibid.; Monica Langley, “Eastern Front: AIG and Fired Chief Greenberg Cross Paths Again—in China.” Wall Street Journal, December 2, 2005; Shelp, Fallen Giant , 95-102.

156 “Sit down, Gordon, and shut up”: Shelp, Fallen Giant , 104.

156 He drove himself relentlessly: Fortune reported that Greenberg installed a StairMaster on the corporate jet as well, to keep fit in flight. Leonard, “Greenberg & Sons,” Fortune .

156 He showed little affection for anyone: As he told Cindy Adams, “You learn fast who your friends are. Some I considered close became a lot less close. They separated quickly. Many you think loyal are suddenly not and you find out during adversity… . But Snowball gives me extra love. She sleeps with me. Puts her head on my shoulder.” Cindy Adams, “Ex-AIG Executive on Friends, Family,” New York Post, October 25, 2005.

156 Jeffrey, Evan Greenberg: Albert B. Crenshaw, “Another Son of CEO Leaves AIG,” Washington Post , September 20, 2000; Christopher Oster, “Uneasy Sits the Greenbergs’ Insurance Crown,” Wall Street Journal, October 18, 2004; Diane Brady, “Insurance and the Greenbergs, like Father like Sons,” BusinessWeek , March 1, 1999.

157 AIG agreed to pay $10 million: According to an SEC press release: “AIG developed and marketed a so-called ‘non-traditional’ insurance product for the stated purpose of ‘income statement smoothing,’ i.e. , enabling a public reporting company to spread the recognition of known and quantified one-time losses over several future reporting periods… . AIG issued the purported insurance policy to Brightpoint for the purpose of assisting Brightpoint to conceal $11.9 million in losses that Brightpoint sustained in 1998.” U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, “AIG Agrees to Pay $10 Million Civil Penalty,” September 11, 2003. http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2003-111.htm.

157 AIG agreed to pay $126 million to settle: “In consenting to settle the Commission’s action and related, criminal charges, AIG has agreed to pay disgorgement, plus prejudgment interest, and penalties totaling $126,366,000.” Securities and Exchange Commission v. American International Group, Inc., Litigation Release No. 18985, November 30, 2004. See http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr18985.htm.

157 deferred prosecution agreement: Pamela H. Bucy, “Trends in Corporate Criminal Prosecutions Symposium: Corporate Criminality: Legal, Ethical, and Managerial Implications,” American Criminal Law Review, September 22, 2007.

157 “Dr. Strangelove of Derivatives”: Lynnley Browning, “AIG’s House of Cards,” Portfolio, September 28, 2008.

158 Warren Buffett called them weapons of mass destruction: In the past he had referred to them as “time bombs” and “financial weapons of mass destruction.” Clare Gascoigne, “A Two-Faced Form of Investment—the Culture of Derivatives,” Financial Times, May 3, 2003.

158 Sosin fled to AIG: Sosin signed a joint venture agreement with AIG on January 27, 1987, and shortly recruited the ten men who would join his team, which already included Drexel’s Randy Rackson and Barry Goldman as partners. See Robert O’Harrow Jr. and Brady Dennis, “The Beautiful Machine,” Washington Post, December 29, 2008.

158 traders got to keep some 38 percent of the profits: Ibid. AIGFP reportedly kept 38 percent of the profits, with AIG retaining 62 percent. The Washington Post noted that Greenberg later said this figure was 65 percent.

158 “You guys up at FP ever do anything to my Triple-A rating”: Ibid.

158 formed a “shadow group”: Ibid. Randall Smith, Amir Efrati, and Liam Pleven, “AIG Group Tied to Swaps Draws Focus of Probes,” Wall Street Journal, June 13, 2008.

159 BISTRO and JP Morgan: Gillian Tett, “The Dream Machine,” Financial Times, March 24, 2006; Jesse Eisinger, “The $58 Trillion Elephant in the Room,” Portfolio, November 2008.

159 “How could we possibly be doing so many deals?”: Brady Dennis and Robert O’Harrow Jr., “Downgrades and Downfall,” Washington Post , December 31, 2008.

160 “It is hard for us, without being flippant”: Ibid.

160 “does not rely on asset-backed commercial paper”: “American International Group Investor Meeting—Final,” Fair Disclosure Wire, December 5, 2007.

161 In 2007 one of its biggest clients, Goldman Sachs, demanded: Serena Ng, “Goldman Confirms $6 Billion AIG Bets,” Wall Street Journal, March 21, 2009.

161 “It means the market’s a little screwed up”: AIG investor meeting, Fair Disclosure Wire, December 5, 2007.

161 “We have, from time to time, gotten collateral calls from people”: Ibid.

162 Greenberg’s forced resignation, Spitzer’s criminal threat: According to the Wall Street Journal, Spitzer threatened AIG’s board with criminal charges unless it dismissed Greenberg. He was forced out as chairman and CEO on March 14, 2005. Spitzer filed a civil fraud suit against the firm in May, accusing AIG of “sham transactions.” James Freeman, “Eliot Spitzer and the Decline of AIG,” Wall Street Journal, May 16, 2008; Daniel Kadlec, “Down … But Not Out,” Time , June 20, 2005.

162 AIG’s $500 million boost: James Bandler, “Hank ’s Last Stand,” Fortune, October 13, 2008.

162 He immediately contacted PricewaterhouseCoopers: Theo Francis and Diya Gullapalli, “Insurance Hazard: Pricewaterhouse’s Squeeze Play,” Wall Street Journal, May 3, 2005.

164 consulting contract, at the rate of $1 million a month: Gretchen Morgenson , “Behind Biggest Insurer’s Crisis, a Blind Eye to a Web of Risk,” New York Times, September 28, 2008; Carrick Mollenkamp, Serena Ng, Liam Pleven, and Randall Smith, “Behind AIG’s Fall, Risk Models Failed to Pass Real-World Test,” Wall Street Journal, November 3, 2008.

164 a $7.8 billion loss: Liam Pleven, “AIG Posts Record Loss, As Crisis Continues Taking Toll,” Wall Street Journal, May 9, 2008.

164 International Lease Finance Corp. was pushing for a split: J. Lynn Lunsford and Liam Pleven, “AIG Leasing Unit Mulls Split-Up,” Wall Street Journal, May 12, 2008.

164 “I am as concerned as millions of other investors”: Liam Pleven and Randall Smith, “Financial Rebels with a Cause: AIG—Hank Greenberg, Who Built the Giant Insurer, Steps Up His Attack,” Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2008.

165 “steps that can be taken to improve”: Liam Pleven and Randall Smith, “Big Shareholders Rebel at AIG—Letter to the Board Cites Problems with Senior Management,” Wall Street Journal, June 9, 2008.

165 to meet with the three investors: Ibid. Francesco Guerrera and Julie MacIntosh, “AIG removes Sullivan as chief executive,” Financial Times, June 15, 2008.