AIG on Suing U.S. Government: “Never Mind”

According to the New York Times’ DealBook page, insurance giant American International Group announced today it will not join a shareholder lawsuit against the same federal government that had rescued it from extinction during the 2008 financial meltdown.

The suit, led by former AIG CEO Maurice R. Greenberg, is seeking $25 billion, alleging that the government’s “onerous” bailout terms prevented shareholders from making billions of dollars as the company emerged from its financial coma.

The Times noted that “A.I.G. directors faced a difficult choice.” That’s putting it mildly, as AIG found itself confronted by a PR firestorm in the days leading up to its decision, when both public and congressional outrage mounted over the company’s possible involvement in the suit. If the company joined the suit, it would have looked like the man who sues the fire department that saved him from a burning home but didn’t return to fetch his stamp collection.