Greenberg, AIG At Odds Over Property
Ousted American International Group Chief Executive Officer Maurice "Hank" Greenberg is considering suing his former company to gain access to his personal papers and other possessions, his representative confirmed last week.
Among the items sought by Mr. Greenberg are personal letters from his mother sent during World War II, his dog's medical records and valuable artwork, said his spokesman, Howard Opinksy.
"We still have not been able to collect his personal belongings, and in particular [his dog] Snowball's medical records," Mr. Opinsky said. "Since we can't really determine why those would be under subpoena, there is no reason that they should not release them."
Some reports have indicated the company is not releasing any files–personal or otherwise–that might be targets of a subpoena from any of the myriad entities investigating AIG, including New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
An AIG representative, Joseph Norton, said he had no comment on the matter.
In addition to accounting irregularities (see related story, page 8), the fight between Mr. Greenberg and the company he once was so personally identified with also centers on three private firms controlled by AIG that now must be separated from it:
o Starr International, long used as a deferred-pay and investment plan for top AIG management.
o CV Starr & Company, which does insurance underwriting and brokerage business with AIG.
o The Starr Foundation, a philanthropic group. All are named after Cornelius Vander Starr, who founded AIG 86 years ago.
"This suit would include the Starr items as well. There is artwork including a Van Gogh and some Remingtons," Mr. Opinksy said. "Those are all clearly the property of C.V. Starr or Starr International, many of which were left to the company by C.V Starr himself."
Their ownership is not contested by AIG, he added. "There has been an arduous process of investigation conducted by both sides," he said. "We are not aware of any subpoenas that are covering the paintings, letters from his mother or his dog's medical records."
The dog he referred to is Snowball. The white Maltese survived a bout of cancer, thanks to radiation and chemotherapy treatments, Mr. Opinsky confirmed. To thank the Cornell University Animal Hospital for its role saving the dog's life, Mr. Greenberg donated money for a magnetic resonance imaging machine to the college's veterinary hospital.
Mr. Opinksy said Mr. Greenberg acknowledged that any documents under subpoena should not be handed over until the issues are worked out. "We are not in control of the property and so we have not been given any subpoenas, and I don't know that they have produced any," he said. "But surely not for the dog's medical records."
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