(Bloomberg) – Robert Benmosche, who is stepping down thisweekend after five years as American International Group Inc.'schief executive officer, said he learned in May that he had ninemonths to a year to live.

Benmosche, 70, said in an interview that he moved up his exit,which had been slated for early 2015, as his health deteriorated.The CEO, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2010, said he wants toenjoy the time he has left after outliving earlier prognoses andrepaying the insurer's $182.3 billion U.S. bailout.

“I said, 'You know what, I'm not going to play the odds,'”Benmosche said in an exclusive interview with BloombergTelevision's Betty Liu at his villa in Croatia. “So let'saccelerate my retirement. And the board was happy to do that.”

Benmosche is turning over the CEO post to Peter Hancock, wholeads the property-casualty unit and previously spent two decadesat J.P. Morgan & Co. before the bank merged with ChaseManhattan Corp. AIG announced in June that Hancock wouldbecome CEO on Sept. 1.

Benmosche has undergone aggressive and experimental treatmentssince 2010, when he was first told that he had no more than a yearto live, he said in the interview. One pill that was supposed tohelp fight the disease for a single year proved effective for threebefore it stopped working, forcing another shift in his treatment,Benmosche said.

“They say I'm stable, which is a big word, because it wasn'tstable for the last six months, and I went through a massive studyon a new technology for about three to four months that did zero,”Benmosche said. “I'll know in another month or two whether we'remaking good progress.”

'Terrible diagnosis'

Benmosche told staff in 2010 that he had been planning evenbefore the diagnosis to step down in 2012. He later extended thattimeline, and the company said in its annual report filed withregulators in February that he intended to remain CEO until thefirst quarter of next year.

The CEO said he had to remain focused at the time of hisdiagnosis on the divestiture of Hong Kong-based life insurer AIAGroup Ltd. AIG exited the business through four publicofferings that raised about $35 billion.

“Some people say you fall apart when they tell you you're goingto die,” Benmosche said. “It's a terrible diagnosis, but one thingI've learned in this business is that everybody dies.”

Benmosche took over at AIG less than a year after thecompany's bailout. The insurer's fifth CEO since 2005, he soldassets and cut jobs as he narrowed the company's focus to globalproperty-casualty coverage and U.S. life insurance and retirementproducts. The stock closed yesterday at $56.16, compared with$11.39 when his hiring was announced.

Mother's advice

Benmosche said that he felt like he'd completed his goals forthe insurer by the time the transition had been announced. A monthearlier, AIG sold its plane-leasing unit for $7.6 billionin what the insurers called its last major divestiture. Benmoschesaid the timing was also driven by advice from his late mother.

“My mother told me, 'Don't wait too long,' and I'm glad I didn'twait too long,” Benmosche told Liu. “She said, 'Live your life whenyou're healthy enough to live it.'”

Copyright 2018 Bloomberg. All rightsreserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten,or redistributed.