In early March, AIG’s board, after requiring Sullivan to redraft the proposed retention program more than once, approved a plan that would pay out $165 million in 2009 and $235 million in 2010. At the time, it hardly seemed like a decision that anyone outside AIG would care about—let alone give rise to the political nightmare that would result in censure, death threats, and a mad scramble on Capitol Hill to undo the bonuses.
