As if you haven’t heard enough AIG news, Edward Liddy, the CEO of AIG, was sent a 1,500 word resignation letter by soon-to-be-former employee Jake DeSantis, who, like Liddy, accepted a $1 annual salary in return for large bonus payments. DeSantis, of AIG’s Financial Products division, penned a powerful, and quite eloquent, letter claiming Liddy’s actions are unjust and those “in the financial products unit have been betrayed by AIG and are being unfairly persecuted by elected officials.” It is because of this that Santos, and presumably more to follow, is resigning.
DeSantis points to the fact that the blame is on the credit default swap losses and not the financial products division. He swears to keep his $742,006.40 after-tax retention payment because most of those receiving the bonus “have done nothing wrong and guilt is not a motivation to surrender our earnings.”
And though he has refused to surrender the money for which he was contractually bound to receive, he does have generous plans for it. As DeSantis himself points out, “some might argue that members of my profession have been overpaid, and I wouldn’t disagree.” So, instead of keeping all 2,000, he will donate 100% of the effective after-tax proceeds to those suffering from the global economic downturn.
This seems to put us in a difficult situation. Should the American people feel sympathy for DeSantis and others at AIG in his situation or anger over their steadfast refusal to return their taxpayer-derived payments?