Mega Insurer AIG and Activist Carl Icahn End Three Month Dispute

Mega insurer American International Inc. (AIG) on Thursday reached a settlement with Carl Icahn, ending a three month public battle the latter launched about three months earlier. AIG said it would install two dissident directors to the company's board' hedge fund mogul John Paulson of Paulson & Co. Inc. and Icahn analyst, Samuel Merksamer. The new directors are expected to be installed on a board that will be expanded from 14 to 16 persons at the company's upcoming annual meeting in May. In addition, AIG authorized the repurchase of $5 billion in additional shares, a move that brings its buyback authorization up to $5.8 billion. It comes after the insurance giant repurchased about $11 billion in shares in 2015. In addition, AIG conducted about $2.5 billion in stock buybacks in 2016 so far. In a statement Icahn said that he continues to believe that "smaller and simpler is better" and he "looked forward to working collaboratively with the board and management to help catalyze a turnaround at the insurer's property and casualty operations as well as a more transparent operating structure."