AIG shares surge more than 50 percent after Reuters CEO exclusive

AIG shares gained almost 50 percent in the two days after Reuters exclusively reported that the company’s new CEO had reached out for help to Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, the former CEO who built the company into the largest insurer in the world. The move added more than $2 billion to the struggling insurer’s market value. The story was the result of a Reuters correspondent visiting the company’s new CEO Robert Benmosche at his villa looking over the Adriatic and getting a three-hour interview. Reuters also spoke exclusively to Greenberg, who has been involved in legal battles with AIG ever since he was ousted in 2005. The two stories from the interview were picked up widely by other media, none of whom were in a position to match them. Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and others referred to the interviews with Benmosche and Greenberg in explaining the share price move. Volume of shares traded surged more than five-fold from the previous three days. The Wall Street Journal partially matched our stories two days later.