Former AIG chief sees fortune vanish

NEW YORK, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Maurice Greenberg, former chief executive officer of American International Group, said he watched his own fortune nearly vanish as the company collapsed.

"I've lost my entire net worth, literally my entire net worth," Greenberg said during a Wednesday appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America."

As AIG collapsed this week, seized by the federal government, it was estimated Greenberg lost about $3 billion, ABC reported Thursday.

The fortune Greenberg built up, guiding AIG for 27 years and turning it into the country's largest insurance firm, collapsed the same week Forbes Magazine was doing last minute edits to its annual list of the America's 400 wealthiest people. Greenberg, who still owns a private jet, homes in New York City and Brewster, N.Y. and an office on Park Avenue, was edited out, ABC said.

Greenberg left AIG in 2005 amid a highly publicized fraud investigation, but his next two ventures were still heavily tied to his former company, the report said.

"I'll get by," Greenberg said during the broadcast. "But my heart goes out for the thousands and thousands of employees and their families who are shareholders, and not only in the United States but worldwide," he said.