As the Obama administration becomes more and more involved in the day-to-day business of more and more businesses, you have to wonder what his real goal is? If it is to drive the best and brightest from the industry in question, well, then this should be seen as a sign of success:
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A top executive at American International Group Inc has resigned because of pay curbs imposed by the Obama Administration’s pay czar, the insurer said on Wednesday.
Anastasia Kelly, AIG’s vice chairman for legal, human resources, corporate affairs and corporate communications, resigned effective December 30 for “good reason” and is eligible for severance pay under the terms of the company’s executive severance plan, the insurer said.
Kelly stands to be paid about $2.8 million in severance, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Kelly’s resignation comes after Kenneth Feinberg, who is charged with monitoring pay levels at companies that received taxpayer funds, imposed pay caps for AIG’s top executives.
Earlier this month, Feinberg set the compensation structures for the 26th through 100th highest-paid employees at four firms, including AIG, limiting most cash salaries to $500,000.
And she’s not the only one. Apparently there are other top execs ready to walk:
She was among five executives reported by The Wall Street Journal to have notified the insurer that they were prepared to resign and collect severance benefits if their pay was cut sharply by Feinberg. Chief Executive Robert Benmosche separately also had considered quitting because of the pay constraints, the Journal has reported.
And the impact to the bank:
Cornelius Hurley, director of the Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law at Boston University, said no AIG employee was irreplaceable.
“We have been duped into thinking that these AIG employees have some kind of secret code that no other employee could discover if they were hired to replace them and therefore they are able to basically hold the company ransom,” Hurley said.
Imagine if the government bailed out the Minnesota Vikings. And then, in order to make them competitive, demanded that the team could only pay their QB $500,000. Brett Favre walks. The Vikes finish 3-13. As it stands today, they are the number 2 seed and a decent bet at playing in their 5th Super Bowl.
Hope for Change.
