Blame Game

Greenberg: AIG Rescue Has Failed

Former CEO says insurer’s problems not his fault.

Maurice “Hank” Greenberg presided over AIG as CEO for 38 years until 2005, so this is rather galling: "I don't feel any responsibility at all" Greenberg told The Wall Street Journal "How can I be responsible for something that occurred when I'm not there?" Greenberg is testifying today before Congress in his first public appearance since the government’s first rescue of AIG in September. Greenberg also told the Journal that the government’s rescue effort has failed and said it should reduce its stake in the company from 80 percent to 15 percent in order to attract private capital. His reasons, however, for advocating this should be regarded with a raised eyebrow: Greenberg “remains a major shareholder in AIG” and “controls a company that is AIG’s largest private shareholder.”