An AIG Exec does the Right Thing?

In a surprising turn of events from a few days ago, an AIG executive vice president of the financial division in New York, Jake DeSantis, is resigning from his position and donating his entire bonus to charity, according to MSNBC. Despite feeling unfairly targeted for his work with the financial products division of the company, he feels the most ethical move is to leave his position with AIG.

According to the MSNBC website, DeSantis said, "We in the financial products unit have been betrayed by AIG and are being unfairly persecuted by elected officials. In response to this, I will now leave the company and donate my entire post-tax retention payment to those suffering from the global economic downturn. My intent is to keep none of the money myself."

DeSantis has worked for AIG for eleven years. He claims he can no longer work in such a crazy environment, and was also not "paid out" to leave the company. According to reports, however, DeSantis has said that he feels betrayed by the new Chairman and CEO of AIG, Edward Liddy, and his lack of reverence for his employees.

In another positive turn of events for AIG and the financial world, New York Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo has revealed that 15 out of the 20 AIG employees who received bonuses have agreed to return them.


Wow. I am so relieved to see some morality from these AIG employees. Although I agree that many of these financial bigwigs are shallow and selfish, I was always certain that were a few good guys in this industry. The media certainly loves talking about the bad apples, rather than praising the good men like DeSantis. One of the main problems with news today is the lack of objectivity, as we have learned in class. The media loves tearing the Madoff's of the world apart, whereas the DeSantis of the world will only get an article or two to shine.

All in all, I am thrilled that there is some good in what's left of Wall Street. Hopefully, as the new economy grows, more and more people like these will repair what has been damaged, and the Madoffs and Fulds of finance will merely become a distant memory.