AIG: The Sequel

Maurice Greenberg, the ex-chief of American International Group (AIG), “has been quietly building up a family of insurance companies that could compete with AIG,” according to the New York Times. The new venture called C.V. Starr & Co. will be staffed by some of Greenberg’s former employees. Executive compensation limits announced last week may actually help Greenberg fill more of the ranks. “That may hasten the exodus of AIG’s talent, sending more refugees into Mr. Greenberg’s arms, since C. V. Starr is free to pay whatever it wants,” the paper says. Some people are rooting against Greenberg, with the belief that his success will end up hurting taxpayers. By “siphoning off” business from AIG, the beleaguered company could be much less likely to repay its government debt.

An autopsy revealed that Jeffry Picower, a prominent philanthropist accused of gaining about $7 billion in profit from Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, drowned Sunday after having a heart attack. The New York Times reports that Picower was found at the bottom of the swimming pool at his Palm Beach, Fla., mansion. The paper says, “Mr. Picower had been under growing pressure for months as he faced litigation over his disputed role in the Ponzi scheme operated by Mr. Madoff, who was arrested in December and pleaded guilty in March to operating a long-running fraud that cost thousands of victims billions of dollars.” Picower had a longstanding “professional and personal relationship” with Madoff. The paper says, “Besides investing their personal assets with Mr. Madoff, the Picowers had also entrusted him with money belonging to their personal foundation, which was forced to close in December, after Mr. Madoff’s arrest.”

According to the Washington Post, the White House will unveil a multimillion-dollar plan to convert a closed General Motors (MTLQQ) plant in Wilmington, Del., into an electric car factory. Fisker Automotive of Irvine, Calif., is expected to spend $175 million to fix up the plant. Fisker is also in the process of developing a car under the name “Project Nina,” after the Christopher Columbus ship. A company spokesman says that the name of the project is supposed to be "symbolic of the transfer from the old world to the new in terms of auto technology."

Also in auto news, the Wall Street Journal reports that Chrysler is set to reveal a new product lineup that discards many of its own models in favor of Fiats and vehicles using Fiat technology. The plan is to introduce the high-end, sporty Alfa Romeo brand to the U.S. starting in 2012, in addition to bringing over the 500, the small Fiat car that enjoys popularity in Europe. Some current Chrysler models including “a number of Dodge cars, the Dodge Grand Caravan minivan and several Jeeps” are going to be phased out. Still, the article suggests that new chief executive Sergio Marchionne’s greatest challenge is not winning over the country with this new lineup, but to keep the company afloat until 2012, when most of the new offerings will come to the market.

Betting on a pickup in business spending, technology companies are launching big advertising campaigns to win new customers, the Journal reports. Among the companies jockeying for attention is Google (GOOG). The search giant that typically shies away from traditional advertising recently launched a global ad campaign for its Gmail service and Google Docs offerings. Microsoft (MSFT) spent $300 million on ads to promote the release of its Windows 7 operating system, while Yahoo’s (YHOO) new “It’s You!” campaign, unveiled last month, is its first-ever global ad effort. In the words of one ad executive interviewed for the article, "This is a market now where you stand out or die."

Finally, Bloomberg reports that McDonald's (MCD) restaurants in Iceland will be closed at the end of the month “after the collapse of the krona eroded profits at the fast-food chain.” The closure is largely due to the cost of importing meal ingredients, which has doubled over the past year. “Our competitors all use domestic meat and lettuce and so on, while we are flying in these materials, which is extremely expensive,” says a person familiar with the matter. According to the article, the island has only three McDonald’s restaurants, “all of which will be closed.”