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 Did American International Group Inc. (NYSE:AIG) get a new press department along with a new CEO? In an exclusive interview with Reuters from his Croatian vacation, Robert Benmosche, the new CEO of AIG, comes off calm, collected and extremely human. So human, in fact, that you can probably hear the pitchforks dropping. The new CEO was unapologetic about taking a vacation only a few days after assuming his new position, for which he came out of retirement, and chatted about his home; his vineyards, bought to create a steady income for his family in the future; and a little bit about his business philosophy. He told Reuters: "I believe in people more than anything but I also believe in performance. You also hear me referred to as the bull in the china shop. And I can be, I can break things. But what is important is that when I show up, I get everybody's attention. And at the end of the day none of us are entitled to anything. It is what we earn." Speaking of, Benmosche's $10.5 million pay package, which includes $3 million in cash and $4 million in fully vested stock and as much as a $3.5 million bonus, was fast-tracked for approval by Obama administration "pay czar" Kenneth Feinberg Thursday afternoon (for the full story, click here). Much of the article, however, is devoted to his love for Croatia and the details of his 12-bathroom sea-side villa, festooned with imported finery, like Italian tiles, an 18th-century French tapestry and a 1922 Persian rug. (All yours for $568/night -- he rents). "When you come here, all of a sudden you appreciate the world you live in," he said. He also discussed how imposing his success has been on his children, and, interestingly describes his return to the business world as if he enlisted in the army: "Some of us need to come out of retirement -- who have done this before -- to help deal with the crisis. If I sit here, I just felt that there are going to be continuing problems. I felt I had some of the skills necessary to fix the problems of AIG in particular and it made sense to come back," he said. Benmosche is incented to do well, not just because of the enormity of AIG and its impact on global markets or that part of his salary is in equity, but because if it went bust, MetLife Inc. (NYSE:MET), of which he still owns 500,000 shares from his days as MetLife's CEO, would be badly bruised. Let's see if he is so winsome after a few months on the job. - Sara Behunek follow me on Twitter @sarabehunek See Also: AIG soaring on ex and new CEO news AIG's Benmosche reorganizes grapes in Croatia AIG CEO Robert Benmosche, aka 'Bob The Builder' AIG scraps sale of Advisor Group AIG's new CEO Benmosche goes on vacation
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