AIG CEO Edward Liddy did his best to “blunt the outpouring of criticism” over $165 million in retention bonuses, said Joseph Weber in BusinessWeek online. He told an angry House committee that the “distasteful” bonuses were legally binding and necessary to keep on employees who can unwind the company's $1.6 trillion in dangerous securities. Some executives have agreed to return the bonuses, he said, and some are receiving threats of death by piano wire.
The bonuses are clearly “ridiculous,” said David Gaffen in The Wall Street Journal online, and the “retention” aspect is questionable—11 of the employees who got $1 million or more in bonuses have already left AIG. But Liddy is probably right that there are very few outsiders able or willing to wind down AIG’s massive portfolio.
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