Before Edward Liddy stepped down from his posts as chairman and chief executive officer of American International Group Inc., he told employees that the company is undergoing a rebirth, not a breakup.
Liddy, the former head of Allstate Corp., Northbrook, Ill., who became AIG's CEO in September 2008, around the time the government ended up with a 79.9% interest in the financially strapped firm, writes in letter to employees sent Friday that he is returning to retirement with "$1, a few bruises and a feeling of hard-earned accomplishment."
The bruises are the result of the battering Liddy received from congressional critics and New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo when AIG, New York, gave out big bonuses to many executives, including executives in the firm's disastrously unsuccessful AIG Financial Products unit.
AIG paid Liddy only $1 in annual salary, but the company reported in May that he received $460,411 in work-related benefits and reimbursement payments in 2008.
