Ex-AIG CEO Benmosche downplays Buffett challenge: Bloomberg TV
Posted On: Sep. 24, 2014 12:00 AM CST
(Reuters) — Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. isn't American International Group Inc.'s biggest competitor, and AIG handles all its rivals in a very effective way, former AIG Chief Executive Robert Benmosche told Bloomberg TV.
“I think his last 10 years is not as good as his first 20 years — but ... when you get big it's hard to continue to grow,” said Mr. Benmosche, who currently serves as an adviser to the insurer.
The AIG-Berkshire rivalry heated up last year when AIG decided to stop signing new reinsurance contracts with Berkshire due to competitive reasons.
The decision came after Berkshire poached senior AIG executives, and Mr. Buffett said he planned to expand his company's commercial insurance operations that compete with AIG.
Mr. Benmosche, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2010, sped up his exit from AIG after he learned in May that he had nine months to a year to live.