AIG from the other side
A NYTimes OP-ED piece from Jack DeSantis, an executive vice president at AIG, turning in his resignation and donating everything he stands to receive as a bonus from the company.
After 12 months of hard work dismantling the company — during which A.I.G. reassured us many times we would be rewarded in March 2009 — we in the financial products unit have been betrayed by A.I.G. and are being unfairly persecuted by elected officials. In response to this, I will now leave the company and donate my entire post-tax retention payment to those suffering from the global economic downturn. My intent is to keep none of the money myself.
I take this action after 11 years of dedicated, honorable service to A.I.G. I can no longer effectively perform my duties in this dysfunctional environment, nor am I being paid to do so. Like you, I was asked to work for an annual salary of $1, and I agreed out of a sense of duty to the company and to the public officials who have come to its aid. Having now been let down by both, I can no longer justify spending 10, 12, 14 hours a day away from my family for the benefit of those who have let me down.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/opinion/25desantis.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=%22dear%20AIG%22&st=cse (via Rob)
While nobody on ‘main street’ wants to hear it – including myself – these bonuses were promised far back, and are compensation for work done just like the rest of us. And while $165 million dollars is a HUGE number for anyone to see, the graphic below put it slightly more in perspective as to what AIG has actually received.
I know I jumped quick when I saw the bonus headlines, the sensationalism got me this time.
Ready to heap the blame back on AIG and off the recipients of the bonuses? Think Congress might need to reconsider their 90% taxation rate?