about two hours away from dubrovnik. today, the 12 acres bear fruit and olives. it was fruit harvest season when we went, and he invited me to tag along as he checked the grapes with his staff. >> it looks like we will salvage a little something from this terrible season. >> it was here in 2009 when he started getting calls from people like jim in treasury to come back and take over aig. while postwar life in the area was serene, the u.s. was in a violent financial storm. >> it is a lot easier to run a vineyard than it is to run aig. >> walk me through what happened in croatia when you decided to go back. >> i thought that if aig failed, first and foremost, the insurance industry would never be the same. and i'm a big shareholder at metlife. the first thought i had was of metlife. and it would be in big trouble if aig failed because things are just going to unravel. that was my first thought. the second was that i thought it was bad for the country. if america cannot show that it can fix its business problems and do it the right way, i thought it would be bad for

in dubrovnik. >> this whole space is a wreck. cracked tiles.ooked 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 was the outside walls. and every thing was built from inside. >> on a cliff above the sea, it has 12 bedrooms, eight bedrooms, and three kitchens. it is aptly named villa splendid. when he bought the place, he imagined himself relaxing and hosting parties. what he did not expect was the terrible news that came in 2010. cancer. >> it is a terrible diagnosis. but one thing i learned in the life insurance business is everybody dies. we are just not told a timeframe. and so you have the luxury of imagining years beyond where today is. >> did the doctors say you have x number of years? you have x amount of time. 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 ov

benmosche is less recognizable but you couldn't tell on the street'ss of the broad neck -- streets of dubrovnikrecalled 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 d

like jamie dimon, bob benmosche is less recognizable, but you couldn't tell on the streets of old dubrovnikere people came up to the ceo to take photos. he recalled the first time he took on the job with aig. when you first got your hands on the books, what was going on in the company? what did you see? >> i did not look in the books. i had a good idea of what was represented by what was in the books. because i spend a lot of time with jim milstein. jim was the restructuring executive who was handling this for the u.s. treasury. and i spend a lot of time with sarah dahlgren, who was also handling it for the new york fed. they told me about the financials. i questioned them about the financials. and my assumption was that they did their due diligence. >> when they briefed you on what was going on at aig and what they knew, were they 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. but it is a question of, if the outside world thinks it is that bad, i have to get you to stop talking about how bad it is. >

wall street titans, robert benmosche is less recognizable but you couldn't tell on the streets of dubrovnik recalled the first time he 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. i spent a lot of time with the person handling it for the new york fed. i question them about the financials. >> 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. if the 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. tim geithner said he wanted aig successful enough so the taxpayer can get out. benmosche 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. w