Jon Stewart is not one to hold his tongue for anyone. Last night on The Daily Show Stewart delivered a simple message to former AIG chief executive Hank Greenberg: go fuck yourself.
Greenberg is suing the federal government for a whopping 40 billion dollars, alleging that he and other shareholders of AIG were treated unfairly when the company was rescued in 2008. Catch Stewart rip Greenberg to shreds here:
While Greenberg stepped down in 2005, he was still the company’s largest shareholder when it was on the edge of bankruptcy in 2008. When bonds started defaulting, AIG was responsible for more than it could pay. Fearing the collapse of the massive insurance company, the government pushed 182 billion dollars into AIG and took a 92% stake. Greenberg filed the suit against the federal government claiming he was treated unfairly because the company got less favorable terms than the bailed out banks.
“If anything, the financial system extorted the taxpayers by screwing up so royally that the world would be on the brink of financial apocalypse without the bailouts,” Stewart said.