---
id: "entity-aig"
type: "entity"
entityType: "organization"
canonicalName: "AIG"
aliases: ["American International Group"]
source_timestamps: ["00:15:00"]
tags: ["insurance", "2008-crisis", "cds"]
related: ["concept-counterparty-risk", "entity-goldman-sachs", "prereq-2008-crisis"]
sources: ["wallstlie"]
sourceVaultSlug: "10x-darkside-bitcoin-systemic-collapse-2026Jun25"
originDay: 8
---
# AIG (American International Group)

## Profile

American International Group (AIG) is a large multinational insurance corporation. During the run-up to the 2008 crisis, AIG's Financial Products division sold **massive amounts of Credit Default Swaps (CDS)** — essentially insurance — on mortgage-related securities.

## Role in This Vault

AIG is the central example [[entity-scott-darkside]] uses to demonstrate [[concept-counterparty-risk]] in action. When AIG's CDS book threatened collapse, its inability to pay out would have imposed catastrophic losses on counterparties — most notably [[entity-goldman-sachs]] — necessitating a massive U.S. government bailout to prevent broader systemic contagion.

## Why It Matters

The AIG bailout is the cleanest illustration of how **opaque derivative exposures** force taxpayer rescues: AIG was rescued primarily to save its counterparties. It is the archetype of [[concept-wall-street-looting]] — privatized gains across an entire derivatives book, socialized losses borne by the public.