We all know the outcome now, but in the latter months of 2007 executives at AIG seemed to be only starting to catch wind of the problems that eventually led to the nationwide financial collapse the firm helped precipitate a year later. Were they just overly confident? Clueless? Or were they hiding the fact that they knew very well that the jig was up?
The tug of war continues between corporate financial giants and the federal government, and certain members of the former seem to have some trouble adjusting to their post-bailout status. AIG, for example, is still planning to reward its top 400 executives with a whopping $165 million in bonuses this weekend, even after the company was given more than $170 billion from taxpayers to stay afloat. Updated