Reuters first with U.S. government`s plan to sell one-fifth of AIG

Reuters broke the news on Dec 8 that the U.S. government plans to sell about a fifth of its stake in bailed-out insurer American International Group, a deal potentially worth more than $10 billion. Our alerts were repeated on CNBC within minutes and AIG’s shares fell by as much as 4 percent, shaving off more than $1 billion of market value. The sale will be an important test of whether the U.S. Treasury can help taxpayers make a profit on one of the most controversial bailouts of the financial crisis. Bloomberg picked up the story, citing Reuters, and the New York Times also credited Reuters for breaking the news.