The key to the success of the business was AIG’s triple-A credit rating from Standard & Poor’s. With it the fund’s cost of capital was significantly lower than that of just about any other firm, enabling it to take more risk at a lower cost. Greenberg had always recognized how valuable the triple-A rating had been to him and guarded it carefully. “You guys up at FP ever do anything to my Triple-A rating, and I’m coming after you with a pitchfork,” he warned them.
