Facing Backlash, AIG Won’t Join Lawsuit Against US

NEW YORK (AP) — Facing a certain backlash from Washington and beyond, American International Group won’t be joining a $25 billion shareholder lawsuit against the U.S. government over the terms of its bailout at the height of the financial crisis. The suit was filed by Starr International, a company headed by AIG’s founder and former Chief Executive Officer Maurice “Hank” Greenberg. It alleges that the government took nearly all of the insurer’s stock as part of its bailout without giving investors proper compensation. The $182 billion bailout of the insurer by the Treasury was the largest of the 2008 financial crisis. (MORE: A Heaping Helping of Chutzpah: AIG Considers Suing the U.S. Government For Bailing It Out) The timing of the suit could hardly have been worse for AIG. The company is in the midst of a “Thank You America” ad campaign to sh...