$115M Settlement in Louisiana Teachers’ Fund Dispute With Former AIG Execs
The Delaware Chancery Court has given preliminary approval to a $115 million settlement in a shareholder derivative action brought by the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana against four former AIG executives and C.V. Starr & Co. Inc.
The defendants, including former CEO Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, former CFO Howard Smith, former director Edward E. Matthews and former Senior Vice Chairman Thomas Tizzio, admitted no wrongdoing under the settlement.
Of the $115 million settlement, Greenberg, Smith and Matthews and their directors and officers liability insurers will pay $85.5 million; $28.25 million will be paid by C.V. Starr; and Tizzio will pay $1.25 million. Greenberg is now chairman of C.V. Starr.
The Louisiana lawsuit, filed in 2002 before Greenberg left AIG amid questions over corporate accounting methods, alleged the AIG executives engaged in self-dealing in certain transactions with C.V. Starr. The teachers’ fund alleged that the former directors and executive officers of AIG breached their fiduciary duties to the company and to its shareholders, and that defendant C.V. Starr aided and abetted those alleged breaches of fiduciary duty.
A final hearing on the settlement will be held on Dec. 17 in Delaware.