>> tonight on "titans at the table," i will be chatting with robert benmosche. former executive of aig. i traveled to croatia to spend the time with the wall street titan. >> there are not many views like this in the world. >> when you come here, do you relax? >he recounts how he turned a company left four dead. >> you thought a had a company of zero value. today, the market value is almost $80 billion. >> all while dealing with a

personal struggle. >> i have nine months to a year to live. they put me on aggressive chemotherapy. obligation toan resign if i can't handle the chemotherapy. was born innmosche brooklyn in 1944. his family moved his family -- his father moved his family to the catskill mountains. the family was left a quarter million dollars in debt. from there, having enough money became a driving force in benmosche's life. he rose up the ranks in some of the biggest firms in wall street. he became ceo ed metlife. took on his biggest

job. turning around the ship at aig. it was in croatia that he took the job. times, one of the most hated characters in the financial world. during a road ride along the adriatic coast, benmosche explained how he fell in love with the country years ago. 1987 with here in about 250 people. so this was like their reward. >> they all thought it was a joke. and then they came here and said, this is unbelievable. i decided, in 2000 after the war with serbia, i would see if i could buy vineyards. >> in 2006, he did just that. bought plots of land --

two plots of land. it was harvest season and he invited me to take a long as he checked the grapes. >> it looks like we will salvage something from this. >> it was here that he started getting calls from people like jim milstein at treasury to come back and take over aig. while life and creation a -- in u.s.ia was serene, the financial markets were in crisis. >> walk me through what happened. if aig failed, first and foremost the insurance industry would never be the same. i'm a big shareholder in metlife. the first thought i had was -- >> metlife. >> it could be in big trouble if iag fails.

the second thought was, i think it is bad for the country. if america can show they can fix business problems the right way. it would be bad for meritocracy and capitalism. >> aig had just received one of the biggest government bailouts in history. $182 billion in exchange for a stake in the company. if you thought the company would survive. -- few thought the company would survive. he started making headlines, floating conventions including going on vacation. >> grandpa is on big trouble because he left his job to go on vacation after two weeks. >> you did a lot of things of that time. can i name some of them? you said you had bigger balls than the government. >> that was in a private

meeting. what i said was, i know they can come after us. the fact is, i'm not worried about the size of mine. the government is not going to tell me how to run this company. i am going to tell you how to run this company. that is what they hired me for. >> when you except that the job as ceo, you said, you are not going to work for ed liddy. when you came back, you didn't need the money. but you insisted on the pay. >> absolutely. >> that set the president. people should be paid what they are worth. >> that is beyond a doubt. the messages, we are going to pay competitively for positions. i need to make sure the people have hope and opportunity. they are going to be paid competitively.

if we deliver a free and independent aig. i did not want my pay to be a cause that pay is too high. pay should be relative to your performance, the performance of your company, and the value you create. >> coming up, going to war over bonuses. >> we spent $100 million who earned 162 $5 million for the work they earned. ♪ >> benmosche's fight over his

own pay turned out to be a small fight can paid to -- compared to the fight over pay for employees at aig. he found himself in a fight over bonuses.

the same unit that almost sank aig. >> i want to read a quote. he said, we are in effect at war. over the one city $59 in bonuses $165er the 155 million -- million in bonuses. >> why weren't they are war over million watching people work? me.tell maybe i am not's. -- nuts. threaten tough to quit the job he just started if the bonuses were not awarded. >> you threatened to quit. >> what i said was, i'm going to announce my retirement in april, 2010.

i will say we have stabilized and is this time to move on. if i cannot commit to a compensation program that made sense -- people were asking me to pay in aig stock. people in the administration and government did not think we could pay back the government. how much is the stock worth? nothing. why would you stay -- >> and get paid in stock? he did not step down and the bonuses were handed out. afterwards, most of the highest-paid executives agreed to give the money back. but the outrage over the bonuses and his compensation lingered. >> can you understand the public frustration? not only at the time but even now. the frustration with pay. can you understand that? >> i understand part of it.

you have to understand, they gave me $10.5 million in the year -- a year. they thought a had a company of zero value. actually negative. today, that market cap -- not the equity, the market value is almost $80 billion. if i said to the american public, i can create an $80 billion company and i will give it back to you with a profit, but i want 1% or 2%, they would give me -- give it to me. >> they don't see it that way. >> they don't understand what was created. >> they think the rich are getting richer. all the richer and richer in their friends. >> they see that. in 2009, march, i took every

penny i had and bet on the market. >> what are we talking about? >> we are not going to discuss them numbers. several americans did it. guess what. it paid off. if you look at what happened in the five-year time, there has been huge growth. >> are you saying a rising tide rises all boats? >> i'm saying you have to take a risk. if you take a risk and win, you should not be blamed for winning. the people who lose did not do so well. >> what he found when he first opened aig's books. >> i didn't figure it was that bad. the world but they were worse than they were. ♪ >> compared to other wall street

titans, robert benmosche is less recognizable but you couldn't tell on the street'ss of the broad neck -- streets of dubrovnik. herecalled the first time took on the job with aig. >> i did not look in the books. i had a good idea of what was represented i what was in the books. i spend a lot of time with jim milstein. he was the restructuring executive who was handling this for the u.s. treasury. theent a lot of time with

person handling it for the new york fed. i question them about the financials. my something was, they did the dude diligence. >> when they briefed you on what was going on, with a better or worse than you thought? >> the world thought they were worse than they were. >> you did not? >> i didn't think it was that bad. outside world thinks it is that bad, i have to get you to stop talking about how bad it is. >> in energy was expected to be broken up and the best parts sold off. he wanted aigaid successful enough so the taxpayer can get out. had different plans. he was going to revive the company and pay the taxpayer

back. >> did you ever think you would not? >> i did not think i could not get it done. in september of 09, i think what you are going to be left with is a $70 billion company. if you have $70 billion as your margin of error, there is no doubt. >> that was your back of the envelope. that was my back of the envelope calculation. i was wrong to read it is $100 billion. our market cap is $80 billion. >> when they finally pay back the american text areas with a $23 billion profit, the committee took out ads taking the american people. felt the officials to him fell short. >> was that the first time you

had lunch with him? >> they met with me when they signed the deal that gave them 92% ownership of aig. the question was, how are we going to sell all the shares? when they saw me at the end of 2012, that would have been more meaningful. >> why? >> they should have said, what we put the people through -- people of aig through was horrific. say that it is incredible what they have accomplished. to not only pay us back, give us the $23 billion profit, but you have kept all the americans employed. you have kept them as effective citizens of our country. we thank you for that. >> they never said that. >> they never said that.

>> it almost sounds like you are looking for it an apology. >> people should recognize they did a great job under the worst of conditions. >> does it still pose a threat to the financial system? >> i don't the can other aig will happen. >> we are not going to see another aig crisis. >> no. we have been in this position for over two years. i don't think we will see a bank failure that we have seen. failurety industries like bear or lehman. >> ciga a thumbs up to the regulators. -- you give a thumbs up to the regulators. >> i give them a thumbs up for getting the job done but a thumbs down for failing to tell the public. i have chris as people at washington -- criticized people in washington. why don't you talk about how much progress you have made?

their answer is, we are not sure something cannot go wrong. you., shame on you should be sure. i am sure. >> when we come back, robert benmosche's villa splendid lives up to its name. and he gets personal about his fight with cancer. ♪ >> how are you?

betty., betty. -- hi, >> show me around your beautiful villa. >> in 2001, he began looking for a place to retire and settled on an abandoned the villa. ->> this whole place is a wreck. cracked tiles. but i looked at the view and said, wow.

there aren't very many views like this in the world. >> they bought the property for about $1 million and spent millions more fixing it up. >> all i preserved with the outside walls. every thing built from inside. >> on a cliff above the sea, it has 12 bedrooms, a bedrooms, and three kitchens. it is aptly named villa splendid . he imagined himself relaxing and hosting parties. what he did not expect was the terrible news that came in 2010. cancer. diagnosis.terrible one thing i learned in the life insurance business is everybody dies. we are just not told a timeframe. you have the luxury of imagining years beyond where today is. >> did the doctors say you have x number of years? in general for this illness, cancer? >> in general, i have nine

months to a year to live is what i was told. then they put me on aggressive chemotherapy. normally, you are supposed to get it over three days. i spent to do it in a day -- asked them to do it in a day. i have an obligation to resign if i couldn't handle it. they said, ok we can but we do not like to do it. than we did a scan and it had no effect. >> they put him on an experimental treatment ended did work. his 12 month progress us stretched to three years. you never disclosed which cancer you had. >> if i were comfortable disclosing it, and it would help people, i would.

i don't want to give people the concern that he will not be here long. and secondly, i don't want to be able to tell people, i want to do what he did. there is no miracle drugs here. it is the pipeline that counts. i think it is premature to get into a conversation about it. >> but the treatment stopped working. >> they reset the clock nine months to a year. >> when? >> back in may. the board and i met in april. we said, i think you need to do some major changes in the organization. they were concerned about me changing the organization dramatically. announced a new ceo. i said, that is great. we were thinking about the first quarter of next year. i said, i'm not going to play

the odds and changes have to be made now. i said, let's accelerate my retirement. the board was happy to do that. >> in september 1, he turned over the ceo role to his chosen successor, peter hancock. the transition was smooth and quiet. a vast difference from the days when he took over. >> if there's some sort of secret that you can dispel for somebody with a diagnosis like that -- but still able to turn around a multibillion dollar company -- how do you do that? >> you have to focus on living. there are times in my life that had the diagnosis, and the consequence of death came, it would have been devastating. had it happened in the middle of getting a id to a point that we completed the restructuring. completed the 92% ownership of common shares to the government. that would have been devastating.

it would have been devastating in 2005, when i was still getting this house finished and ready for my retirement. when you thick about your death, thick about what you have accomplished. if there are things that are myrying you about legacy, father left behind a wife with four children. know will. -- no will. to $50,000 in debt. debt.0,000 in where youere moments sat down and thought about that? went to a dark place? >> i was never in a dark place. i felt the hardest thing is telling denise. been telling my son and daughter. -- then telling my son and daughter.

and then close friends. say to them, unfortunately, there's going to be a timeframe here. about all the things we can celebrate of what we have already done. >> and done with the corporate world. now it is time to enjoy everything he has. >> my mother said, enjoy life when you are healthy. >> could you have enjoyed this 20 years ago? >> no, i did not have as much money. >> it comes back to money with you. ♪

>> this is "taking stock" for thursday, september 25, 2014. the world is not moving fast enough in its fight against ebola. we will be speaking to nigeria's ambassador to the united states. the adaptation of drones are definitely gaining speed. we will talk all things drawn