Reuters/ Nikola Solic
In August he announced that he had terminal cancer in an interview with Bloomberg's Betty Liu. He said his cancer "had begun massive mutations" and that now he had nine months to a year left to live.
"We announce this news with profound sadness, and our thoughts and prayers are with Bob's family at this difficult time," said Robert S. Miller, Chairman of the AIG Board of Directors. "Bob was one of the most inspirational and successful leaders in corporate America by any measure. We will never forget that under Bob's extraordinary leadership, the people of AIG repaid America in full plus a profit of nearly $23 billion. Everyone in the AIG family has been greatly blessed by Bob's vision, his loyalty, and his friendship during his five years with the company. Bob was a brilliant man who brought tremendous leadership, energy, passion, and tenacity to his job. At AIG, we will honor his legacy by continuing to focus on integrity and performance. He will be deeply missed."
Benmosche took over AIG in 2009. As one of the firms hardest hit by the financial crisis, he had the gargantuan task of turning the massive insurance company completely around after a government bailout, and he accomplished that.
"Everybody said it's just not going to happen, they'll never pay it off," he told New York Magazine. "SIGTARP, Elizabeth Warren, Gretchen Whatshername in the New York Times. The fact is we now have succeeded in getting the Fed back all of their money, and we're just close to getting the Treasury paid back. And do you know....neither of them have ever said 'Thank you'? We have done all the right things. Somebody should say, 'By golly, those AIG people made a promise and they are living up to a promise!' We're left with a major part of the economy in America; they're going to make a profit on top of everything else they've got."
Before AIG Benmosche was the chairman of MetLife. He was 70 years old when he passed.