Who Is Maurice Greenberg, Man Behind Bid for 'NY Times'?

Because of the "dual stock" status of The New York Times Co., the chances that Maurice "Hank" Greenberg -- the former AIG chairman and CEO now reported to be intent on taking over the company -- will actually succeed in his quest may be slim. Still, he is a man to be reckoned with, and who knows what ripple effects may appear.

If Greenberg ever did get in the position to run the company, the political orientation of the paper might well change. Greenberg has strong Republican connections -- friend of Henry Kissinger, once mentioned as a Reagan appointee to help run the CIA, and a funder of GOP candidates.

Federal election forms show that he gave $1000 to former Rep. Mark Foley for both his 2000 and his 2004 races. For the latter campaign, he donated $2000 to George Bush and $1000 or more to Sen. John McCain, Rep. David Dreier, Rep. Dennis Hastert, Sen. Christopher Bond and several other Republicans, as well as Democratic Sen. Christoper Dodd (who represents Connecticut, a big insurance state). Over the years he strongly favored Republicans with his donations, with a smattering of Democrats, including Rep. Charles Rangel, mixed in. Greenberg gave to both Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush in their races for the White House.

For the 2006 race, he funded Sen. John Kyl of Arizona in his successful re-election bid.

A Wall Street Journal article this past June suggested that AIG's campaign funding had shifted from the GOP toward the Democrats with Greenberg's sudden exit from the company: "AIG has given 57% of its donations to Democrats so far in the 2005-06 election cycle. In the last election cycle, the insurance company gave 53% of its campaign contributions to Republicans and its then-chairman, Maurice Greenberg, raised an extra $200,000 for President Bush."

Greenberg is honorary vice chairman and a director of the Council on Foreign Relations. This past September, Greenberg was present when visiting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaking to a few Council members, expressed doubts that the Holocaust had occured. Greenberg reportedly responded: "Listen, I went through Dachau during the war. To suggest it didn't occur is simply a lie." Ahmadinejad then asked if Greenberg was old enough to have participated in liberation of Dachau.

Reports today indicate that Greenberg is buying Times Co. stock and hopes to gain the entire company, hard as that may be to pull off. Greenberg had previously been mentioned as a suitor for the Tribune Co.

Some analysts have suggested that Greenberg may be driven partly by revenge in the Times takeover bid. The paper has been critical of him in the ongoing legal dispute with the state attorney general, now Governor-elect, Eliot Spitzer. A Times article last December referrred to the "man-made disaster" at AIG, the world's largest insurance company: "Regulators had discovered accounting problems at A.I.G., and the board swiftly ousted the chairman and chief executive, Maurice R. Greenberg, who over the course of 38 years had built the insurer into a behemoth with a market capitalization of $170 billion.

"Last week, regulators lashed out at Mr. Greenberg again, issuing a report accusing him and others of having cheated a foundation he runs 35 years ago. No charges have been brought, and Mr. Greenberg, who is known as Hank, denies any wrongdoing."