AIG Deconstructed: Stowe Mountain

Peel back the layers of the rotten onion that is the American International Group(AIG), and you never what you'll find next. So today, in the second article of an ongoing series dissecting the nightmare flow-chart that is AIG, here's a doozy...

Did you know that one of AIG's smallest assets is actually one of the East Coast's largest and most expensive ski resorts?

No, we didn't think so. There are no signs mounted along the slopes at the iconic Stowe Mountain Resort in Vermont revealing AIG's ownership. The only way to know that AIG holds rights to the complex is through a casual mention in its SEC filing of Mt. Mansfield Company, the corporate name of the ski resort.

But the resort is indeed among the many AIG pieces up for sale, as the insurer looks to generate cash to repay the massive $180 billion bailout from the government.

AIG and Stowe Mountain have quite the history. AIG founder Cornelius Vander Starr skied Mansfield, Vermont's tallest peak, in the 1940s and decided to purchase the resort as his own personal playground, beating out Lehman Brothers president Roland Palmedo.

In the 1970s, Starr's estate sold the company to AIG. Since then, AIG has spent millions improving what is now Stowe Mountain Resort, including a $400 million hotel complex that opened last summer. (AIG, interestingly enough, is also the largest provider of trip-protection plans and liability policies for ski areas.)

Stowe Mountain is currently in the midst of a second round of renovations, including the development of a performing arts center. The sale of the resort should not disrupt the construction, which is expected to be completed next year.