HG/Starr burned again? Not likely:
I cant see a scenario where a man who spent 40 years building a 90 year old company into the 18th largest public company in the world and who lost control due to speculation let that happen again. His shares were once worth $15 billion and in the aftermath less than $50 million, and it has been often stated he kept a tight rein on the small derivative section of his company that after his resignation sold the CDS which brought its demise.
His reputation was damaged forever and by the likes of Eliot Spitzer and all charges were dropped and he sued AIG for what they did without him. His estimated fortune of $100 million is surely enough to support anything he wanted, but here's some of his thoughts from a Charlie Rose interview after:
Charlie Rose: You obviously want to save this because it is your life’s work.
Hank Greenberg: Well, more than that. More than that now. I–Star International, which owns the largest share, had a net value when I left AIG of about $20 billion. That’s down to a meager amount now. That was–you know, that was a very important company that we are building around the world. So clearly, we have a very significant interest in seeing AIG survive. There are thousands of employees whose whole net worth is tied up in the company, pension funds. People around the world, not just in the United States, world-wide–AIG operated–operates in 130 countries. And employees in all those countries bought stock, owned stock. There were stock purchase plans. And so to wipe all of them out unnecessarily, it would be a tragedy.
Does this sound like a man who would let his rep be tied to any kind of fraud again? At 85 years old, an age defining legacy, do you think he wouldnt put every protection in place to keep that from happening? I think like has been researched and stated he did everything possible to insure this company's veracity.
Did you know he is the father of Jeffrey W. Greenberg, former chairman and CEO of Marsh & McLennan Companies, which specializes in risk management? In addition:
He is also a former Chairman and current member of the US–Korea Business Council, a member of the US–China Business Council, and the Business Council. He has served on the Board of Directors of the New York Stock Exchange, the President’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations, and the Business Roundtable. He is a past Chairman, Deputy Chairman and Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He is Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Committee on United States – China Relations.
So I think this whole fraud scare by obvious shorts with nothing but greed, criminal intent and fabrication may have pissed him off a bit. Especially the bloggers who love to smear him with the Spitzer froth. That didnt end well for Eliot. I think he may have the experience to wipe em out.
None of us know what is going on behind the scenes, but to think your money is being manipulated fraudlently by CCME or HG seems patently unbelievable, just like the bashers who have yet to come up with a single true fact.
I dont know how you feel but in any upside/downside risk I'll take my chances going long, with the incredible DD from WCTBILLS, great constant analysis from MikeA, M.chill, daBrad, expertise from Bullmarket, and insites from gunnar, Upstate and the rest, sounds like the Dirty Dozen agains the Block Heads of the world.
With a fair amount riding, moms and even mother-in-laws, and with a daughter soon in College,,, baby needs a new pair of laptops.
PS....did you know: AIG history dates back to 1919, when Cornelius Vander Starr established an insurance agency in Shanghai, China. Starr was the first Westerner in Shanghai to sell insurance to the Chinese, which he continued to do until AIG left China in early 1949
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