Ed Liddy

Last updated
Ed Liddy
Born (1946-01-28) January 28, 1946 (age 77)
New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S.
Education B.A., Catholic University of America - 1968
MBA, George Washington University - 1972
Known for Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (2008, 2010-2015) - partner;
AIG (2008-2009) - interim chairman & CEO;
The Allstate Corp. (1994-2008), chairman and CEO (1999-2006);
Sears, Roebuck & Co (1988-1994), CFO (1992-1994)
Board member of Abbott Laboratories, AbbVie Inc. and the Forum Club of Southwest Florida

Edward "Ed" Liddy (born January 28, 1946) is an American businessman who was chairman of the Allstate Corporation from 1999 to 2008. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

In September 2008, at the request of the secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Liddy agreed to serve as interim chairman and chief executive officer of American International Group, Inc. (AIG). [4] [5] His placement in the role was one of numerous government actions to provide stability to U.S. financial firms during the global financial crisis. Liddy requested a salary of just $1 a year. [6]

Early life

Liddy was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. [4] After the death of his father in 1959, he moved to Clearwater, Florida, with his mother and older sister. He was a member of the first graduating class of Clearwater Central Catholic High School in 1964. [7] He earned his bachelor's degree from the Catholic University of America (1968) [3] [4] and MBA from George Washington University (1972). [3] [4]

Career

Liddy began his career as a financial analyst with Ford Motor Company in 1972. [8] He joined G.D. Searle & Co., and its CEO Donald Rumsfeld, in 1979, eventually becoming CFO. Upon the sale of Searle to Monsanto, he served from 1986 to 1988 as executive vice president and a member of the board of directors of ADT, Inc. [9]

Sears, Roebuck and Co.

Upon the sale of ADT, Liddy joined Sears in April 1988 and served in a variety of financial and senior operating roles before being named chief financial officer in February 1992. [3] In that role, he was the architect and implementer of the successful restructuring of Sears, which involved breaking the company into numerous public companies (Sears, The Allstate Corporation, Dean Witter) [8] and selling non-core assets (Homart Development Company, Coldwell Banker Residential Broker, Sears Mortgage and Sears Savings Bank). [10] He led the 1993 initial public offerings of Dean Witter/Discover and Allstate, two of the largest ever IPOs at that time. [11] He also led the 1995 spinoff of Allstate from Sears.

The Allstate Corporation

After the IPO of Allstate, [11] Liddy held positions of increasing responsibility with the Allstate Corporation, the largest publicly held personal lines property and casualty insurer in America, [12] from 1994 to 2008. He served as chairman from January 1999 until his retirement in April 2008. He was chief executive officer from January 1999 until December 2006, and president and chief operating officer from August 1994 to December 1998. [1] [2] [3] Under Liddy's leadership, the company was streamlined by exiting non-core businesses and the company expanded its distribution system beyond its traditional agency force to reach customers through the internet and call centers. [13] During Liddy's tenure as president and then CEO, Allstate's market value more than tripled, from $11 billion (December 31, 1994) to over $40 billion (December 31, 2006). [14]

American International Group

In September 2008, at the request of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Liddy agreed to serve as interim chairman and chief executive officer of American International Group, Inc. (AIG). [4] [5] His placement in the role was one of numerous government actions to provide stability to U.S. financial firms during the global financial crisis. He requested a salary of just $1 per year. [6]

The restructuring of AIG that Liddy took on was one of the largest in U.S. corporate history. [15] He and the AIG team developed a strategy to stabilize the company and its $1.2 trillion balance sheet; keep the company out of bankruptcy; repay with interest all money invested in the company by various U.S. government entities, which eventually totaled $182 billion; and keep the remaining business that would comprise AIG vital and competitive. [16] [17]

The government bailout of AIG [18] garnered national headlines in May 2009 when AIG, with the concurrence of the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve, paid earned bonuses to employees of its Financial Products Business, determining the payments were contractual obligations. Liddy noted that "honoring contractual commitments is at the heart of what we do in the insurance business." [19] At the same time, he urged the employees who received $165 million in bonuses to "do the right thing" and return at least part of their bonus. [20]

Once the company was stabilized, a viable plan in place to repay the government assistance and a management team partially in place to execute the strategy, Liddy announced on May 21, 2009, he would resign as AIG chairman and CEO when replacements were found. [21] He suggested the two roles be split. [22] In August 2009, Robert Benmosche took over as CEO and Harvey Golub as chairman. [23]

By December 2012, AIG had fully repaid the entire $182 billion, plus required interest, invested in the company by the government. [24]

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, LLC

Liddy served as a partner in the private equity investment firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, LLC from April to September 2008 and from January 2010 to December 2015. [3]

Board of directors roles

Liddy serves on the board of directors of Abbott Laboratories, [25] AbbVie Inc. [26] and the Forum Club of Southwest Florida. [27] He previously served on the board of directors of 3M Company [1] and the Boeing Company. [2]

Philanthropy and civic engagement

Liddy has been actively involved in a number of philanthropic and civic endeavors. He serves as a life trustee for Northwestern University. [28] He is also life trustee and chairman emeritus of Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, a life trustee of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago [29] and a life trustee and former national chairman of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. [3] He served as chairman of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago as well as chairman of the club. He also served as chairman of the Executives Club of Chicago and Metropolitan Family Services.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald J. Carty</span> Canadian-American businessman

Donald J. Carty, is a Canadian-American businessman who serves as chairman of Porter Airlines. Carty also serves as a director of VMWare, Hawaiian Airlines and Betterez. He was previously chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines, from 1998 to 2003. He is the past Chairman of Virgin America and E-Rewards, Inc.. Carty is also a past director of Dell, CN Rail, Sears, Placer Dome, Barrick Gold, CHC Helicopters, Brinker International, Talisman Energy, EMC Corporation, and Gluskin Sheff. In January 2007, Carty became the Vice Chairman and chief financial officer of Dell. On June 13, 2008, Carty retired from day-to-day operations, but stayed on as a director. He is a past chairman of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, a former member of the Board of Trustees of both Southern Methodist University and Queen's University and of the board of directors of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts Foundation and the Dallas Theater Center. He currently serves on the Executive Board of the SMU Cox School of Business.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American International Group</span> American multinational finance and insurance corporation

American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is an American multinational finance and insurance corporation with operations in more than 80 countries and jurisdictions. As of January 1, 2019, AIG companies employed 49,600 people. The company operates through three core businesses: general insurance, life & retirement, and a standalone technology-enabled subsidiary. General Insurance includes Commercial, Personal Insurance, U.S. and International field operations. Life & Retirement includes Group Retirement, Individual Retirement, Life, and Institutional Markets. AIG is the title sponsor of the AIG Women's Open golf tournament. In 2023, for the sixth consecutive year, DiversityInc named AIG among the Top 50 Companies for Diversity list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allstate</span> American insurance company

The Allstate Corporation is an American insurance company, headquartered in Glenview, Illinois since 2022. Founded in 1931 as part of Sears, Roebuck and Co., it was spun off in 1993, but was still partially owned by Sears until it became an independent company completely in June 1995. The company also has personal lines insurance operations in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maurice R. Greenberg</span> American business executive (born 1925)

Maurice Raymond “Hank” Greenberg is an American business executive and former chairman and chief executive officer of American International Group (AIG).

Edward Scott Lampert is an American billionaire businessman. He is the former CEO and chairman of Sears Holdings (SHLD); founder of Transform Holdco LLC; and founder, chairman, and CEO of ESL Investments. Until May 2007, he was a director of AutoNation. He was a director of AutoZone from 1999 to 2006. As of October 2021, his net worth was estimated at US$2 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivan Seidenberg</span>

Ivan Seidenberg is the former chairman and CEO of Verizon Communications Inc.

Robert B. "Bob" Willumstad is a former Chairman and CEO of the American International Group (AIG).

Edward A. Brennan was chairman of the board, president (1980–1995) and chief executive officer (1984–1995) of Sears, Roebuck and Co.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Voser</span> Swiss businessman

Peter Robert Voser is a Swiss businessman, who is the chairman of the Swedish-Swiss company ABB. He was the CEO of the Dutch-British corporation Royal Dutch Shell from July 2009 to December 2013. He was interim CEO of ABB from April 2019 to February 2020. He started his career at Royal Dutch Shell in 1982, working in a number of finance and business roles in different countries. From 2002 to 2005 he was chief financial officer for ABB and Royal Dutch Shell. In 2004, he was appointed Royal Dutch Shell's chief financial officer (CFO) and then CEO in July 2009.

Stephen Frasier Bollenbach was a financial manager who served as CEO and CFO for many hotel-related organizations. After working with financier Daniel K. Ludwig from 1968 to 1980, he oversaw mergers and acquisitions for various corporations to include Marriott Corporation, Holiday Corporation, Harrah's Entertainment, the Trump Organization, Disney, and Hilton Hotels. He served on various corporate boards, including the nonexecutive chairman of Los Angeles-based KB Home and a member of the board of directors of Time Warner. He served on the board of directors for American International Group, Inc. (AIG) during the 2007 financial crisis, and he was also a director of Harrah's Entertainment, Inc., Macy's, Inc., and the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.

Thomas J. Wilson is chairman, chief executive officer, and president of The Allstate Corporation. Wilson is also a member of the corporation's board of directors.

Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP was an international law firm with nearly 800 lawyers and other professionals in the United States and Europe, serving businesses, non-profits and individuals. The firm was founded in Chicago in 1906 and as of May 2010 ranked as the 58th-largest law firm in the U.S. by revenue. In September 2010 it merged with London-based Denton Wilde Sapte to form SNR Denton.

Desirée Glapion Rogers is an American corporate executive, former White House Social Secretary for President Barack Obama's office and former chief executive officer of Johnson Publishing Company (JPC). As of 2019, Rogers is the CEO of Black Opal, a cosmetics company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timothy Geithner</span> American central banker and politician

Timothy Franz Geithner is an American former central banker who served as the 75th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013. He was the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 2003 to 2009, following service in the Clinton administration. Since March 2014, he has served as president and managing director of Warburg Pincus, a private equity firm headquartered in New York City.

Joseph J. "Joe" Cassano is an American insurance executive who was an officer at AIG Financial Products from the division's founding in 1987 until his resignation in February 2008. Cassano is considered a key figure in the financial crisis of 2007–2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AIG bonus payments controversy</span>

The AIG bonus payments controversy began in March 2009, when it was publicly disclosed that the American International Group (AIG) insurance corporation was going to pay approximately $218 million in bonus payments to employees of its financial services division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Benmosche</span> American businessman

Robert Herman Benmosche was the president and chief executive officer of American International Group. He was appointed President & Chief Executive Officer by the US Department of Treasury and AIG Board of Directors to succeed Edward M. Liddy. Benmosche is known for his leadership at AIG, where he led a turnaround, improved profits 60% year over year, and paid down government aid pledged by the Bush and Obama Administrations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ginni Rometty</span> American business executive (born 1957)

Virginia Marie "Ginni" Rometty is an American business executive who was executive chairman of IBM after stepping down as CEO on April 1, 2020. She was previously chairman, president and CEO of IBM, becoming the first woman to head the company. She retired from IBM on December 31, 2020, after a near-40 year career there. Before becoming president and CEO in January 2012, she first joined IBM as a systems engineer in 1981 and subsequently headed global sales, marketing, and strategy. While general manager of IBM's global services division, in 2002 she helped negotiate IBM's purchase of PricewaterhouseCoopers' IT consulting business, becoming known for her work integrating the two companies. As CEO, she focused IBM on analytics, cloud computing, and cognitive computing systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Duperreault</span> American executive

Brian Charles Duperreault is a Bermuda-born American executive in the insurance industry. He stepped down as executive chairman of American International Group in December 2021.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Board of Directors: Edward M. Liddy". 3M. Archived from the original on 2016-01-19. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
  2. 1 2 3 "Corporate Governance: Board of Directors". Boeing. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Edward M. Liddy Executive Profile". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Bell, Debra (2009-03-18). "10 Things You Didn't Know About AIG CEO Edward Liddy". US News . Retrieved 2011-09-20.
  5. 1 2 Eisenberg, Carol (2008-09-18), Former Allstate Chairman Edward Liddy tapped (again) by Paulson, Muckety, archived from the original on 2009-03-22, retrieved 2009-03-27
  6. 1 2 Grace, Kerry E. (2008-11-26). "AIG Says CEO Pay Will Be $1". The Wall Street Journal . p. C2.
  7. ↑ "Edward Liddy honored with Distinguished Alumni Award". Tampa Bay Newspapers Weekly. 22 March 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  8. 1 2 "The reappraisal of Edward Liddy". Crain's Chicago Business. 2005-05-02. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
  9. ↑ "AIG CEO Edward Liddy: Bio". Minnesota Public Radio News. 22 October 2008. Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  10. ↑ "No Bidder Shortage Seen for Coldwell Banker Real Estate". Los Angeles Times . 30 September 1992. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  11. 1 2 "America Loves Allstate--More Than $2 Billion Sold: Stock: Investors eager to buy into the Sears insurance unit snap up the issue at $27 a share". Los Angeles Times. 1993-06-03. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
  12. ↑ "Allstate Overview: Our Story, About Allstate". Allstate.com. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
  13. ↑ "Letter to Shareholders, The Allstate Corporation 2000 Annual Report" (PDF). Allstate.com. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  14. ↑ "Letter to Shareholders, The Allstate Corporation 2006 Annual Report" (PDF). Allstate.com. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  15. ↑ "Special report: Inside AIG's tortuous turnaround". Reuters. 21 December 2010. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  16. ↑ "AIG 2008 Annual Report" (PDF). AIG.com. AIG. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 December 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  17. ↑ "Testimony of Mr. Edward Liddy" (PDF). The New York Times . 18 March 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  18. ↑ "Fed's $85 Billion Loan Rescues Insurer". The New York Times. 16 September 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  19. ↑ "11 who got $1M bonuses no longer with AIG". ABC News. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  20. ↑ Gomstyn, Alice; Herman, Charles (2009-03-19), "AIG CEO Liddy Calls Bonuses 'Distasteful'; Asks Execs to Return Money", ABC News, retrieved 2009-03-19
  21. ↑ "Brought In to Lead AIG in Upheaval, Liddy to Resign". Washington Post. 22 March 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  22. ↑ "AIG's Liddy Stepping Down As CEO, Chairman Of Big Insurer". www.cnbc.com. CNBC. 2009-05-21. Retrieved 2009-05-21.
  23. ↑ "AIG Names Former Amex CEO Golub As Chairman". Insurance Journal. 2009-08-07. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
  24. ↑ "AIG Makes Final Repayment to Government for Bailout". CNBC. 1 March 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  25. ↑ "Governance: Board of Directors". Abbott. Retrieved 2017-06-02.
  26. ↑ "Our Company, Leadership, Board of Directors: AbbVie". AbbVie. Retrieved 2017-06-02.
  27. ↑ "Forum Club of Southwest Florida, Inc". www.theforumclub.org. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
  28. ↑ "Northwestern University: Administration and Planning, Board of Trustees, Life Trustees". Northwestern University. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
  29. ↑ "Museum of Science and Industry Chicago: About Us, Leadership, Board of Trustees". Museum of Science and Industry Chicago. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.