Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Banquets and Beauty Treatments with your Bailout

Just when I wanted to post something about about the new app for your iphone that will bring you photos of the latest runway fashions from Style.com...I had to come across this charming little piece of news.


WASHINGTON (AP) - Less than a week after the federal government had to bail out American International Group Inc. (AIG), the company sent executives on a $440,000 retreat to a posh California resort, lawmakers investigating the company's meltdown said Tuesday.
The tab included $23,380 worth of spa treatments for AIG employees at the coastal St. Regis resort south of Los Angeles even as the company tapped into an $85 billion loan from the government it needed to stave off bankruptcy.


So while we are working away at our day jobs trying to forecast what the next year is going to look like as a result of the financial crisis, the executives at AIG are getting spa treatments.
You can view the St. Regis bill for AIG here.
It is just me or does this seem like something out of a Tom Wolfe novel?
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3 comments:

Susan B said...

"Appalling" doesn't even begin to describe it.

Anonymous said...

Earlier today, AIG announced an important policy change - one that we wanted to be sure you knew about.

A short time ago, our Chairman and CEO Ed Liddy said that he has ordered the immediate cancellation of all outside meetings, conferences, and recognition events across AIG, except those that are required by law or that are deemed absolutely critical to sustain our ongoing business needs.

Given AIG's commitment to our customers, business partners, regulators, and American taxpayers, coupled with the new and very different challenges our company now faces, we take these responsibilities extremely seriously. Their trust is critical to our success. We recognize the need to be sensitive about all company expenditures.

As we move forward, we will continue to focus our efforts to pay back the $85 billion loan from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as quickly as possible.

Belle de Ville said...

Wow...I wasn't expecting the AIG corporate communications staff to respond to my humble blog post, but I'm happy that they did.
This policy change is a step in the right direction.
I hope that the company will cut executive compensation and use those funds in a way that will help keep AIG employees working. I would hate to see AIG take the Federal bailout money and then have a huge layoff while keeping the executive bonuses and benefits ridiculously high.

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