Ex-AIG Chief Benmosche Dead at 70, Remembered as One of the Most Inspirational Leaders in Corporate America
March 2, 2015 by David Pilla, international editor, BestWeek: David.Pilla@ambest.com
NEW YORK – Robert H. Benmosche, former president and chief executive officer of American International Group Inc. and a former CEO of MetLife Inc., died Feb. 27 after a struggle with cancer.
Benmosche, 70, who had undergone treatment for lung cancer since 2010, died on the morning of Feb. 27 at NYU Langone Medical Center, AIG said in a statement.
“We announce this news with profound sadness, and our thoughts and prayers are with Bob’s family at this difficult time,” said Robert S. Miller, chairman of the AIG board of directors, in a statement. “Bob was one of the most inspirational and successful leaders in corporate America by any measure. We will never forget that under Bob’s extraordinary leadership, the people of AIG repaid America in full plus a profit of nearly $23 billion…He will be deeply missed.”
Peter D. Hancock, president and CEO called Benmosche “piercingly honest and driven by a remarkable belief in the possibility of greatness that exists in every person. He poured his energy and focus into enabling AIG’s people to live up to their potential, and that’s why this company today is a sustainable enterprise that understands the importance of meeting and exceeding the expectations all of our stakeholders.”
In a statement from the Benmosche family, his son Ari wrote that his father, “known universally as Bob, the imposing 6-foot-4 businessman was also a devoted father, husband, partner, and friend, a man known for his generosity to charitable ventures and the arts, and his belief that the people, when given the freedom to act, will do the right thing and great things.” He is survived by his wife, Denise, daughter Nehama, son Ari, daughter Beth; Ari’s wife, Clair; Nehama’s partner, Terry; three siblings, Judith, Jayne and Michael; and six grandchildren.”
Benmosche was president and CEO of AIG from Aug. 10, 2009, to Sept. 1, 2014, AIG said. It was the second time Benmosche retired as head of a major U.S. insurance company, retiring in 2006 from MetLife Inc. after an eight-year run as its chairman and CEO (Best’s News Service, May 12, 2014). In September 2014, AIG announced Hancock would become its new president and CEO (Best’s News Service, Sept. 19, 2014).
Benmosche led AIG through a tumultuous time. He came to the insurer shortly after it nearly failed in the fall of 2008. The federal government rushed to its rescue with a bailout package valued at up to $182 billion. The company retrenched and sold some units to pay back the federal government.
The U.S. Treasury Department sold its remaining AIG common stock at the end of 2012, marking the end of its ownership in the insurer. Benmosche at the time said it was the beginning of a new chapter at AIG (Best’s News Service, Dec. 14, 2012). By 2014, AIG had completely returned to profitability as a global leader in property, casualty, and consumer insurance.
Benmosche came to AIG after serving as the chairman and CEO of MetLife Inc. from 1998 until his retirement from those posts in early 2006. He led MetLife’s transition from a mutual to a public company in April 2000. Before joining MetLife, Benmosche spent more than 13 years at PaineWebber Group Inc., where he served in several capacities.
“In 2006, Mr. Benmosche retired, seeking to spend more time at Villa Splendid, his seaside home outside Dubrovnik, Croatia, that he had bought and lovingly restored several years earlier,” according to the Benmosche family statement. “A wine lover, he also purchased a pair of vineyards a two hour drive away on the Peljesac peninsula, and arranged to import Zinfandel vines from California to grow alongside a local varietal. Three years later, in the summer of 2009, he and his local winemakers celebrated the first harvest of those grapes, which were used in the first vintage of his private-label Benmosche Family.”
The Benmosche family said he saw his job with AIG “as paying the taxpayers back as quickly as possible, while somehow finding a way to hold the company together as a going, prospering concern for its employees and policyholders around the world.”
Units of American International Group Inc. currently have a Best’s Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent).
American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) stock was trading at $55.33 a share on the afternoon of Feb. 27, , up 0.74% from the previous close.
