Selected as one of Motley Fool's "5 Great Books You Should Read"In The AIG Story, the company's long-term CEO Hank Greenberg (1967 to 2005) and GW professor and corporate governance expert Lawrence Cunningham chronicle the origins of the company and its relentless pioneering of open markets everywhere in the world. They regale readers with riveting vignettes of how AIG grew from a modest group of insurance enterprises in 1970 to the largest insurance company in world history. They help us understand AIG's distinctive entrepreneurial culture and how its outstanding employees worldwide helped pave the road to globalization.* Corrects numerous common misconceptions about AIG that arose due to its role at the center of the financial crisis of 2008.* A unique account of AIG by one of the iconic business leaders of the twentieth century who developed close relationships with many of the most important world leaders of the period and helped to open markets everywhere* Offers new critical perspective on battles with N. Y. Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and the 2008 U.S. government seizure of AIG amid the financial crisis* Shares considerable information not previously made publicThe AIG Story captures an impressive saga in business history--one of innovation, vision and leadership at a company that was nearly--destroyed with a few strokes of governmental pens. The AIG Story carries important lessons and implications for the U.S., especially its role in international affairs, its approach to business, its legal system and its handling of financial crises.

Chairman's Note xiPreface xiiiAcknowledgments xxiPart OneChapter 1 Independence 3Chapter 2 Innovation 19Chapter 3 Succession 31Chapter 4 Vision and Culture 43Chapter 5 The Internationalist 53Chapter 6 Raising the Iron Curtain 63Chapter 7 Opening Trade in Services 79Chapter 8 Reopening China 95Chapter 9 The Life Business 111Chapter 10 The Domestic Front 125Chapter 11 Investments 139Chapter 12 Governance 149Part TwoInterlude 167Chapter 13 Hostile Change 171Chapter 14 Restating History 189Chapter 15 Civil War 203Chapter 16 Saving the Starr Foundation 213Chapter 17 Chaos 223Chapter 18 Nationalization 243Epilogue 261Notes 265About the Companion Web Site 309About the Authors 311Index 313