Retention rewards? 11 of 73 AIG bonus recipients had already left the company

[BeyondGeography]

Seventy-Three AIG-ers Got More Than $1 Million Each In Bonuses

We're learning a bit more about the breakdown of those AIG bonuses -- thanks to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

In a letter sent to House Financial Services chair Barney Frank, Cuomo, who is probing the awards, wrote that seventy-three members of AIG's financial products unit were paid more than $1 million each.

And get this: Though the payments were called "retention" bonuses, 11 of those 73 millionaires, including one who got $4.6 million, are no longer even at AIG. So if, as AIG has claimed, the bonuses were handed out for the purpose of holding on to talented employees, they often didn't succeed in doing so.

Continuing the breakdown, Cuomo wrote that one lucky employee got more than $6.4 million, seven received more than $4 million each, and the top ten raked in a combined $42 million. None of the recipients were named...

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/03/sevnty-three_aig-ers_got_more_than_1_million_each.php

[WeDidIt]

1. Shit, with $4 million I coudl live comfortably for the rest of my days

Greedy bastards.

[alcibiades_mystery]

2. Indeed, and I wouldn't lose it in any Madoff fraud or "Credit Default Swap"

Why don't the rich know how to handle their money?

[WeDidIt]

4. They're greedy bastards

that's why.

[ellacott]

3. I had the same question

If these bonuses were supposed to be retention bonuses then it would seem that those recipients breached the terms of that contract.

[Igel]

5. That would depend on the terms of the contract.

The contract may have said simply that they would be paid the retention bonus if they stayed until a certain date.

If you don't know the terms of the contract, it's hard to judge. I can imagine terms that make what they did a breach of contract, or I can imagine terms that make what they did perfectly ok, from a contractual point of view. Of course, I know that it's all just my imaginings. So I think it's hard to judge.