AIG approves CEO pay deal
AMERICAN International Group (AIG), the insurer that received billions of dollars in a US bailout, has been authorised by its board to pay chief executive Robert Benmosche’s $7m (£4.2m) compensation, after it laid to rest concerns that he may quit the post.
The approval means AIG can pay Benmosche an already agreed annual salary of $3m in cash and $4m in fully-vested AIG stock. He is restricted from selling the vested AIG stock for five years from his August start date.
As part of the deal, Benmosche has also signed an agreement that would bar him from working for AIG’s competitors when he eventually leaves the company, said a source familiar with developments.
The agreement comes after Benmosche, a former chief executive of large US life insurer MetLife , told the board in recent weeks that he was tempted to quit because of frustration over the extent of governmental oversight at the company, including how much it can pay top executives.
However, Benmosche told employees in a later letter that he was “totally committed” to seeing the company through its difficulties. He has also now understood to have given the board an assurance that he will stay.
Benmosche could also be eligible for a performance bonus that would raise his total compensation as high as $10.5m.
As one of the largest recipients of US aid, AIG has to comply with pay regulations imposed on the top 100 executives at companies that have received the largest loans under the US Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program. Benmosche’s pay package had already been approved by Washington pay tsar Kenneth Feinberg.