Greenberg To Quit As AIG Chair

AIG also has announced the departure of 2 senior AIG executives, former chief financial officer Howard Smith and Christian Milton, a vice president for reinsurance, the AFL-CIO, Washington, an organization that represents unions that are major AIG shareholders, sent the AIG board a letter urging it to remove Greenberg as chairman.

Boies writes in the letter announcing Greenberg’s retirement that Greenberg recognized the need to resolve speedily investigations of the company that are under way. Boies also complains of press leaks about board discussions and suggests that the company look for a chairman with international financial and insurance experience.

“Over the last 35 years, Mr. Greenberg has had the opportunity to lead AIG through its greatest years of growth and development,” Boies writes. “When AIG first became a public company, it had net income in the 10s of millions of dollars. Now it is in the 10s of billions of dollars. The company is stronger by every measure, financial and nonfinancial.”

Zarb, who serves as chairman of the executive committee of AIG’s board, says Greenberg was thanked “for one of the most spectacular performances in any business career.”

M. Bernard Aidinoff, chairman of the board’s nominating and corporate governance committee, has called Greenberg “one of the pillars of the international financial services business, and his accomplishments will live on through AIG and the insurance industry, as well as through his philanthropic leadership.”

Spitzer thinks the replacement of Greenberg would help resolve his investigation and that the AIG board has acted wisely, according to a spokesman.