Both the feds and taxpayers are outraged by the bonuses that AIG executives. AIG, risking collapse last year, received billions in bailout money from the federal government has requested more to keep their organization afloat. Still, that did not stop them from gifting seven top executives of $4 million each with the top bonus earner even getting $6.4 million.
New York Attorney General Andrew Cumo wrote in a letter to the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee Barney Frank (D-Mass.), “Already my Office has determined that some of these bonuses were staggering in size… Again, these payments were all made to individuals in the subsidiary whose performance led to crushing losses and the near failure of AIG. Thus, last week, AIG made more than 73 millionaires in the unit which lost so much money that it brought the firm to its knees, forcing a taxpayer bailout.”
Some of the key numbers (via ABC News):
- The top recipient received more than $6.4 million;
- The top seven bonus recipients received more than $4 million each;
- The top ten bonus recipients received a combined $42 million;
- 22 individuals received bonuses of $2 million or more, and combined they received more than $72 million;
- 73 individuals received bonuses of $1 million or more; and
- Eleven of the individuals who received “retention” bonuses of $1 million or more are no longer working at AIG, including one who received $4.6 million.
