The $7 Million AIG Refused To Pay

At the center of our legal battle was a single, almost unbelievable claim.

AIG argued that September 11 did not qualify as a terrorist event under the language of its insurance policies.

That position triggered a courtroom fight that would last three years.

* * *

As part of the discovery process, we subpoenaed the evening news anchors who had delivered the events of that day to the nation — Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, and Peter Jennings.

When Hank Greenberg’s lawyers received the subpoenas, my attorney, Alan Asher, got an immediate phone call.

“Let’s settle the case.”

While the litigation dragged on, Hank Greenberg appeared repeatedly on CNBC with Maria Bartiromo, publicly stating that AIG had already settled all 9/11-related claims.

That wasn’t true.

For three years, our case remained unresolved while those statements continued to be made — misleading investors and the public alike.

The truth would eventually surface.

But not without a fight.

* * *

Before our case with AIG was finally settled, Greenberg was already gone.

In 2005, he was forced out as CEO of AIG following intense regulatory pressure stemming from accounting and disclosure investigations led by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and federal regulators. The probes focused on alleged accounting practices that inflated AIG’s earnings and misled investors. Although Greenberg denied wrongdoing and was never criminally charged, AIG’s board pushed him to resign in an effort to stabilize the company and demonstrate cooperation with regulators.

His departure ended nearly four decades of control over AIG and marked the beginning of a massive restructuring period for the firm.

* * *

During those three years, my frustration boiled over more than once.

I remember telling my attorney, Alan Asher, that I wanted to put Hank Greenberg’s face on every one of my magazine covers — twelve titles lined up on the Barnes & Noble newsstand — with a single headline underneath:

Crook.

Alan begged me not to do it.

He was right.

Some battles are won in court.

Others are won by waiting.

Three years later, we settled our millions of dollars in show-cancellation losses with AIG.

They had only one condition, which I accepted: the settlement amount would remain confidential.

To this day, only my attorney, my accountant, and I know the exact amount of the check I received from Hank Greenberg.