YAHOO / AP: The U.S. government is selling more of its shares in insurer American International Group Inc., in a move that should decrease its holdings below a majority stake for the first time since the $182 billion bailout in 2008…
The government has reduced its stake from 92 percent of the company, after selling shares four times in the last couple of years for a total of $23.3 billion. The most recent sale of about $5 billion was in early August.
The insurer has been profitable the last two years and is expected to post a net profit of $7.4 billion in the year through this December. CEO Robert Benmosche said last month the company was close to its goal of repaying the government everything it provided to AIG during the financial crisis “plus a profit.”… (more)
EDITOR: The math in the article doesn’t add up, but it is good news in any case. Just about everyone including yours truly believed much of the essential AIG bail out was money down the drain and an outlandish gift to business interests. We remain a bit skeptical.
