Former American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) CEO Hank Greenberg spoke with FOX Business Network’s (FBN) Liz Claman about his thoughts on the recent op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal regarding lawsuits against him. Greenberg said, the op-ed piece written by former New York Governors George Pataki and Mario Cuomo was a “total surprise” and that today he wrote a letter thanking them both. Greenberg went on to discuss the potential split of Chairman and CEO for Jamie Dimon at JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) Greenberg said that Dimon has been doing “an outstanding job as CEO and Chairman” and that the board should “leave him alone.”
Excerpts from the interview with Hank Greenberg are below.
Hank Greenberg on whether he knew that George Pataki and Mario Cuomo were writing the op-ed piece:
“Total surprise.”
On his response to Pataki and Cuomo:
“Well, I have written them a letter today thanking both of them for their support and I hope to see both of them soon. I think it was an amazing thing for them to do.”
On whether he believes Jamie Dimon’s Chairman and CEO role should be split:
“He’s done an outstanding job as the CEO and Chairman. Why would you tamper with success, you have had record earnings. I just don’t understand why you would want to do that, why a board would even support that, why shareholders would support that – they benefited from his leadership.”
On whether he has spoken with Dimon about his thoughts on splitting the Chairman and CEO role:
“I’ve known him a long time. I haven’t spoken with him, but I think it is wrong for them to be attacking him this way. I mean he is a great leader – leave him alone.”
