Former AIG Chief Suing U.S.

Never let it be said that Maurice R. 'Hank" Greenberg lacks chutzpah.  Greenberg is the guy who cobbled together AIG out of various pieces of second-tier insurance companies, creating an insurance juggernaut that Wall Street loved for its dependable profits (but which was less beloved by many policyholders, I believe.) Greenberg was forced out from the company he created after Eliot Spitzer proved in court that AIG had been operating in an improper and illegal manner.

Greenberg lived to see Spitzer disgraced and booted from the governor's mansion, after someone got the FBI to uncharacteristically investigate and wiretap a brothel.  But Greenberg had still been forcibly removed from his empire, just shortly before the Financial Products division of AIG hit the fan and threatened to bring down the world economy (at least, that's what the HBO movie said.)

Our federal government felt it had no choice other than to bail out AIG to the tune of $182 billion, as the insurer imploded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.  You may remember those days, when AIG quickly became the most hated insurer in the observable universe.

Well, Mr. Greenberg has now filed suit against the United States government, alleging that the bailout was unfair to him and other investors, and unconstitutional to boot.

I don't like to pre-judge any lawsuit--it has been my experience that initial impressions of such things can sometimes be inaccurate.  And while Mr. Greenberg may have been (at least according to some) an unscrupulous and tyrannical CEO, it doesn't automatically mean he is full of it in this instance.

Still, it sure feels unseemly.