AIG's Liddy retires with 'US$1, a few bruises'

“Truth be told, I had no idea what I was in for when I accepted this assignment, but I am glad that I came,” Liddy said in a letter dated Aug. 7. “It hasn't been easy, and goodness knows, it hasn't been pretty.”

Liddy, 63, handed over control of AIG Monday to CEO Robert Benmosche, 65, leaving behind a US$1-a-year salary. He came out of retirement to run AIG in September after the insurer needed a U.S. rescue to prevent its collapse. He endured two congressional hearings and was the face of the insurer during a period in which employees received death threats and AIG reported the biggest loss of any U.S. corporation.

Liddy oversaw the beginning of efforts to repay the government by selling assets. When the CEO failed to find buyers as quickly as expected, he persuaded the U.S. to expand the bailout three times, with the value ballooning to US$182.5 billion. Lawmakers including Representative Elijah Cummings grew frustrated with the costs to prop up New York-based AIG and e funds that flowed to banks that traded with the insurer.

“I will return to retirement with US$1, a few bruises and a feeling of hard-earned accomplishment,” Liddy said in the letter. “I do not intend to linger or second-guess new management or policy makers.”

Liddy, previously CEO of auto insurer Allstate Corp., had been on the board of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. last year when he was asked to take over at AIG. He stepped down as a director of the New York-based bank after being named AIG's CEO.

Liddy said he plans to “pass on the lessons of this extraordinary phase of American financial history” to future business leaders.

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