"You can't pay back the taxpayer by selling assets in this market," Greenberg told CNBC.
Greenberg may be right. AIG has to pay back as much as $152.5 billion that the government loaned the insurer. So far, divestments have happened but some argue maybe not to the benefit of AIG. Munich Re, for example, purchased Monday AIG's equipment insurer HSB Group Inc. for $742 million and $76 million in debt. But AIG bought HSB in 2000 for $1.2 billion in stock. AIG's savior - the U.S. government - like Greenberg says maybe the stake that does it in. The insurer's payback seems too big for them to handle in this atmosphere of weak global economies and tight credit markets.
If Greenberg had his way, he told CNBC he would do things differently at AIG, which is to: "build the company back to what it was, and sell assets at a much later date." - Gerald Magpily
See CNBC article
See Dealscape: AIG's CEO says no need for 'fire sale'
