Upbeat about new AIG CEO and the future of the company, investors drove shares up 30%.
From David Goldman, CNN Money:
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Shares of AIG jumped 30% in midday trading Thursday after newly appointed CEO Robert Benmosche said he was optimistic about returning the troubled insurer to its former glory.
"At the end of the day, we believe we will be able to pay back the government and we hope we will be able to do something for our shareholders as well," Benmosche told Bloomberg in an interview. "My first charge is to get the company to operate at the level it used to operate, being the world's best."
AIG (AIG, Fortune 500) was once the world's largest insurer but is now just a shadow of its former self. The company owes taxpayers more than $80 billion of a $182 billion bailout, which it plans to pay back by selling off many of its assets.
