Don't You Wish You Made $1 A Year Like AIG's CEO?

The NYT DealBook Blog says that AIG’s $1 interim CEO is living pretty well, despite the whole “being hated for something you didn’t do” thing.

The American International Group disclosed Thursday that it paid its dollar-a-year chief executive, Edward M. Liddy, compensation worth about $460,000 in 2008 to cover costs he incurred after taking over the company during its emergency rescue by the Federal Reserve.

The company said in a regulatory filing that the payments covered $38,368 for a New York apartment for Mr. Liddy, who lived in Chicago before coming out of retirement to lead A.I.G. through its restructuring. An additional $162,686 was paid for legal counseling, $47,578 to cover commercial airfare between New York and Chicago, and $31,348 for car services.

The company also said it paid $180,431 to reimburse Mr. Liddy for the taxes he owed on those amounts.

Interim CEOs are pricey, but Liddy’s actually a bargain compared to his predecessor — a guy who held the position for 3 months and was eligible for compensation valued at $37.6 million for 2008. Before you get too upset about that, the NYT points out that $24 million of that value was in AIG stock that the guy didn’t even accept. Whoops! Always get cash, buddy.

A.I.G. Discloses Payments to Its $1-a-Year Chief [NYT]

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