Too Big to Fail - Andrew Ross Sorkin [313]
AIG’s $500 million boost: James Bandler, “Hank’s Last Stand,” Fortune, October 13, 2008.
He immediately contacted PricewaterhouseCoopers: Theo Francis and Diya Gullapalli, “Insurance Hazard: Pricewaterhouse’s Squeeze Play,” Wall Street Journal, May 3, 2005.
consulting contract, at the rate of $1 million a month: Gretchen Morgenson, “Behind Biggest Insurer’s Crisis, a Blind Eye to a Web of Risk,” New York Times, September 28, 2008; Carrick Mollenkamp, Serena Ng, Liam Pleven, and Randall Smith, “Behind AIG’s Fall, Risk Models Failed to Pass Real-World Test,” Wall Street Journal, November 3, 2008.
a 7.8 billion loss: Liam Pleven, “AIG Posts Record Loss, As Crisis Continues Taking Toll,” Wall Street Journal, May 9, 2008.
International Lease Finance Corp. considering split: J. Lynn Lunsford and Liam Pleven, “AIG Leasing Unit Mulls Split-Up,” Wall Street Journal, May 12, 2008.
“I am as concerned as millions of other investors”: Liam Pleven and Randall Smith, “Financial Rebels With a Cause: AIG—Hank Greenberg, Who Built the Giant Insurer, Steps Up His Attack,” Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2008.
“steps that can be taken to improve”: Liam Pleven and Randall Smith, “Big Shareholders Rebel at AIG—Letter to the Board Cites Problems With Senior Management,” Wall Street Journal, June 9, 2008.
to meet with the three investors: Ibid. Francesco Guerrera and Julie MacIntosh, “AIG removes Sullivan as chief executive,” Financial Times, June 15, 2008.
The company had paid Manchester United $100 million: “Manchester United Signs Shirt Deal with American Insurance Giant,” Associated Press, April 6, 2006.
“AIG Offers Empathy, Little Else”: Liam Pleven and Randall Smith, “AIG Offers Empathy, Little Else—Some Shareholders Left Wanting More After Insurer’s Slips,” Wall Street Journal, May 15, 2008.
an additional $10 billion in new collateral: Randall Smith, Amir Efrati, and Liam Pleven, “AIG Group Tied to Swaps Draws Focus of Probes,” Wall Street Journal, June 13, 2008; Liam Pleven, “AIG’s $5.4 Billion Loss Roils the Markets—Investors Impatient on New CEO’s Plan as Problems Attack the Complex Insurer,” Wall Street Journal, August 8, 2008.
The two men agreed to have dinner together: Liam Pleven, “Two Financial Titans Put on Best Face,” Wall Street Journal, June 17, 2008; Lilla Zuill, “New AIG Chief and Ex-CEO Greenberg Set to Meet Thursday,” Reuters, June 18, 2008.
CHAPTER NINE
Oil, most crucially, was going for $140 a barrel: A record for oil futures in Russia, this price was predicted to rise—and it did—hitting $147 in July. “Russia’s Crude Money Box,” International Securities Finance, June 26, 2008.
Russia was pumping out millions of barrels a day: The International Energy Agency said that as of June 11, 2008, Russia was producing 9.5 million barrels of oil per day. Jason Bush, “Prime Minister Putin Primes the Pump,” BusinessWeek, June 30 2008.
who had coined the appellation for those four economies: Goldman’s chief economist Jim O’Neill, leading a team from the firm, created the acronym in 2001, when they were making growth predictions about the four emerging markets. See Dominic Elliott, “Fundamentals Drive the ‘BRIC’ Rebound,” Wall Street Journal, July 27, 2009.
defaulting on nation’s debt: “On August 13, with dollars fleeing the country, its reserves dwindling, its budget overtapped, and the price of oil, its chief commodity, down 33 percent, the government imposed controls on the ruble.” Lowenstein, When Genius Failed, 140–45.
Long-Term Capital Management: Ibid.
“I really think we are a little better”: Bethany McLean, “The Man Who Must Keep Goldman Growing,” Fortune, March 17, 2008.
They had bet against something called the ABX index: Chris Blackhurst, “The Credit Crunch Genius Who Masterminded a £2 billion Jackpot,” Evening Standard (London), December 18, 2007.
“I don’t speak Russian”: Ellis, The Partnership,