hmmmmm

retention bonuses may indeed be common. BUT IT'S NOT COMMON TO GIVE 2,000 OF THEM OUT. it's NOT COMMON to use MY money to pay (part of) them either.

if the executives you're trying to keep are the ones who got you in trouble to begin with WHY IN THE HELL WOULD YOU WANT TO 'RETAIN' them?

holy shite
Report: AIG Pays More Retention Bonuses by Frank Ahrens
6:02 PM ET: AIG -- the insurance giant that has thus far received $153 billion in bailout money and is 80-percent owned by the government -- is paying retention bonuses to at least 2,000 employees, Bloomberg is reporting.

The bonuses equal one year's salary, and employees were ordered to keep them secret, Bloomberg said.

AIG confirmed the bonuses to Bloomberg.

Retention bonus payments are common in troubled and reorganizing companies as a way to hold onto executives familiar with the companies's operations. Enron paid retention bonuses, for instance...........