Anastasia Kelly Broke Glass Ceiling Only to Find a Government Imposed Salary Cap
By RICH BLAKE
ABC News
Dec. 30, 2009
Before making partner at the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering more than a decade ago, Anastasia Kelly once participated in a conference call while she was in labor delivering twins.
In 2006, after working seven days a week helping lead MCI WorldCom out of bankruptcy as general counsel, Kelly took a similar post at AIG in the chaotic wake of Hank Greenberg’s departure as CEO amid a probe by then New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
Two years later, Kelly, known to friends as Stasia, found out the real meaning of chaos as AIG struggled to survive amid the most turbulent financial crisis in a century.
Kelly now finds herself in the public eye following news that she is going to collect millions from AIG in severance after she resigned rather than have her salary cut under rules set by President Obama’s special pay master Ken Feinberg.
In a written statement today, AIG confirmed that Kelly had resigned “based on the reduction in her base salary that was mandated by the special master for executive compensation for TARP Recipients.”
Kellys’ resignation took effect today.
While most people on Main Street find it hard to understand how a top executive at troubled AIG could in good conscience accept millions after the massive bailout taxpayers gave the company, several businesswomen came to the defense of Kelly, the rare female Wall Street executive to earn as much as a man.
The article continues at ABC News.
