This post is part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst in Money 2008 feature.
In the decades to come, business school students will be faced with a plethora of examples from 2008 in studying how not to do something.
Picking one business decision as the worst is sort of like choosing a favorite child. Each was wretchedly awful in their own unique way. They each deserve their own wing in the hall of shame, but there only can be one winner. In my mind, the company that consistently shot itself in the foot with a heretofore unknown precision was American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG).
Of course, AIG is now owned by the U.S. government, largely thanks to two bailouts. The government ripped up the first $85 billion deal after determining that the New York-based company needed an even bigger life preserver of $150 billion. Even then, it managed to post a $24.5 billion loss.
What set the standard for corporate hubris, though, were the junkets. There was a fun-in-the-sun getaway to a resort in California, only days after the $85 billion bailout went through. Recently, it was disclosed that another junket was held in Arizona. Though the amount of money involved in the gatherings was piddly, the principle at stake was not. AIG was telling people -- especially members of Congress who approved the bailout -- that nothing had changed when, of course, everything had.
The runners-up for the booby prize include Lehman Brothers Chief Executive Dick Fuld's failure to prevent the demise of the once-venerable investment bank, though I realize there is some debate over whether the bank should have been allowed to fail. There is little dispute that Jerry Yang's ruinous tenure as Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) CEO ranks amongst the worst in the history of corporate America for failing to strike a deal with Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT). Finally, how about those Wall Street banks apparently using bailout money for bonuses? I guess they want to party like it's 1999.
Speaking of the dot-com bubble, imprisoned ex-Tyco Chief Executive Dennis Kozlowski recently said he expects to have plenty of new cellmates. He claims to have difficulty reconciling AIG's $150 billion bailout and the infamous $6,000 shower curtain. Kozlowski's thievery seems quaint now.
Share the reasons for your Dumbest Business Move pick in the comments, or let us know about any contenders we overlooked. Also be sure to see the rest of the Best & Worst in Money 2008.
Closing Bell: When We All Love the PIIGS (NBG, SQNM, PG, ERTS, KO)
Serious Money: Cheapest Stocks List Shrinks from 26 to 21
Chasing Value: Hasbro Earnings Makes My Point
