An awfully generous dose of "woe-is-me" from Jake DeSantis, an A.I.G. bonus recipient:
Dear A.I.G., I Quit!
The following is a letter sent on Tuesday by Jake DeSantis, an executive vice president of the American International Group’s financial products unit, to Edward M. Liddy, the chief executive of A.I.G.
DEAR Mr. Liddy,
It is with deep regret that I submit my notice of resignation from A.I.G. Financial Products. I hope you take the time to read this entire letter.
The letter alternates between a defense -- DeSantis says he didn't directly earn a dime from the credit default swaps that destroyed A.I.G. -- and a plaintative whine -- DeSantis bemoans the fact that along with the other bonus recipients, he's been unfairly attacked.
The really striking thing is the extent to which DeSantis believes that everything good that has happened to him is because of his "hard work," while everything bad that has happened to him has been because of external malefactors.
After 12 months of hard work dismantling the company — during which A.I.G. reassured us many times we would be rewarded in March 2009 — we in the financial products unit have been betrayed by A.I.G. and are being unfairly persecuted by elected officials. In response to this, I will now leave the company and donate my entire post-tax retention payment to those suffering from the global economic downturn.
...
My hard work earned me acceptance to M.I.T., and the institute’s generous financial aid enabled me to attend.
...
I did, however, like many others here, lose a significant portion of my life savings in the form of deferred compensation invested in the capital of A.I.G.-F.P. because of those losses. In this way I have personally suffered from this controversial activity — directly as well as indirectly with the rest of the taxpayers.
...
We have worked 12 long months under these contracts and now deserve to be paid as promised. None of us should be cheated of our payments any more than a plumber should be cheated after he has fixed the pipes but a careless electrician causes a fire that burns down the house.
...
I know that because of hard work I have benefited more than most during the economic boom and have saved enough that my family is unlikely to suffer devastating losses during the current bust.
...
I at least deserve to dictate how my earnings are spent, and do not want to see them disappear back into the obscurity of A.I.G.’s or the federal government’s budget.
It's easy to beat up on DeSantis because of his association with A.I.G., but the underlying issue here is the sense of entitlement that pervades his argument.
DeSantis seems to think that he alone is responsible for "earning" all of the good things that have come to him in life, and that others are responsible for everything that has been bad -- chief among them, the U.S. government.
The reality -- whether he understand it or not -- is that DeSantis is as much a product of his environment as he is a self-made man, with a healthy dose of luck thrown in the mix.
You'd think that someone in the finance industry -- especially one who has to deal with risk mitigation -- would understand that fact, and present himself to world with more humility and understand the responsibility that comes with success.
But not so in the case of the poor, beleaguered Mr. DeSantis.