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AIG should fire CEO over junket mess (update)

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Another day, another American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) junket caught on video. Chief Executive Edward Liddy has promised members of Congress that it would not happen again. But since Liddy's credibility has been destroyed on Capitol Hill, AIG has no choice but to replace him.

AIG is going to get an avalanche of bad publicity over the $343,000 meeting it held at a posh resort near Phoenix. After getting burned by revelations over past junkets, AIG decided to cover its tracks by removing all mention of AIG from the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort, according to ABC News.

In a memo issued in response to the story, Liddy argued the meeting was justified under the policies AIG adopted after the complaints about its last fancy meeting was exposed. He also pointed out that the costs of the Arizona meeting for financial planners was minimal. "It is essential for AIG to conduct seminars of this kind to keep independent financial planners abreast of investment products and services including those offered by AIG," he said. "The financial planners are responsible for generating almost $200 million in revenue this year for AIG as of September 30th.
"

This certainly does not sound like the behavior of a company that got a second bailout deal just Monday to the tune of $150 billion because the original $85 billion was too low. What about a company that had to freeze $600 million in payments to former executives? You would think that a company in such dire circumstances would be holding its gatherings at the local Holiday Inn instead of the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak.

The resort, judging from its Web site, is gorgeous. It brags about "nine acres of water fun, including a half-mile lazy river for tubing and a 130-foot slide known as Slippery Rock Slide. A beautiful lagoon pool with a 10-foot waterfall offers a relaxing ambiance while a sports pool entertains the more active."

Though this sure sounds like fun, I don't doubt that members of Congress will be mad. In fact, I bet that Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif) is probably preparing a letter to AIG's senior management as we speak. The management of companies need to learn that in politics, perception is reality. Companies such as AIG better get used to having their moves second-guessed and third-guessed.

Given the company's new realities, perhaps AIG might want to look into webinars.

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Last updated: November 10, 2009: 01:24 PM

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