American International Group Inc. said former airline industry
boss Douglas M. Steenland will succeed Robert S. "Steve" Miller as
non-executive chairman on July 1.
Messrs. Steenland and Miller both joined the board of the global
insurance giant in June 2010 as the company was seeking to recover
from its near collapse in 2008 and the federal government was its
majority owner. AIG ultimately received more than $180 billion of
taxpayer assistance in one of the biggest single U.S. rescue
packages, all of which was repaid to taxpayers by late 2012.
Mr. Steenland, 63 years old, served as chief executive of the
former Northwest Airlines Corp. from 2004 to 2008 and had
previously served as president and general counsel. Mr. Steenland
retired from Northwest Airlines when it merged with Delta Air Lines
Inc.
The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Mr. Miller
intended to step down as chairman this July while remaining on the
board, after five years in the leadership role. AIG's corporate
governance guidelines provide that, generally, an individual
shouldn't serve in that role for more than five years, according to
AIG.
Both Messrs. Steenland and Miller are standing for re-election
at AIG's upcoming annual meeting on May 13.
"We remain committed to an AIG that is transparent,
well-managed, and valued by all of its stakeholders," Mr. Steenland
said in an AIG statement released Thursday morning.
Mr. Miller is a veteran restructuring specialist who oversaw the
restructuring of other troubled companies. He led AIG as it devised
a plan to repay U.S. taxpayers through asset sales and a change in
the financial structure of the company.
Previously Mr. Miller served as CEO of auto-parts maker Delphi
Corp. between July 2005 and September 2007, and stayed as executive
chairman until fall 2009, when the company emerged from a
protracted bankruptcy.
"It has been a great honor to serve as chairman of the board
during the past five extraordinary years in AIG's history, and I
look forward to continuing to serve on the board," Mr. Miller said
in the release.
Write to Leslie Scism at leslie.scism@wsj.com
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