We’re Not the Boss of A.I.G.
by CARL ICAHN
BARNEY FRANK, the Massachusetts Democrat who heads the House Financial Services Committee, recently said that the government should sue American International Group to recover the $165 million in bonuses it paid to executives in its financial products division. “We own this company, in effect,” Mr. Frank said, referring to the government’s 80 percent stake. “As the owners of the company, we do not think we should be paying bonuses or should have paid bonuses to people who made mistakes, who were incompetent.”
Sadly, though, under American corporate law share ownership does not count for much. Mr. Frank might be surprised to learn that a lawsuit would have almost no chance of success in court, even for a majority shareholder like the government. A.I.G. would most likely argue that the oft-cited “business judgment” rule gives management wide latitude to set compensation without shareholder interference. What the government should have gotten was board representation in return for its large investment in A.I.G.
Now, barring political resolution (including a confiscatory tax or a voluntary surrender of bonus money), the government’s choices are limited to exercising the rights of a shareholder. Perhaps one silver lining to this debacle is that it will finally alert Washington to the lamentable state of corporate governance in America. Our legislators will find — as I have as a shareholder who has waged many battles to get on corporate boards — that the rights of the shareholders are quite circumscribed...
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Op-Ed Published: March 28, 2009
The New York Times
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