US profit at $12bn after AIG stock sale The US Treasury has sold most of its remaining stake in AIG in an $18bn offering, earning the US government a profit on arguably the most contentious bailout of the 2008 financial crisis. The 553m share offering, announced Sunday, was priced at $32.50 on Monday evening. The price was 4.4 per cent below Friday's close. AIG purchased $5bn of the Treasury's shares. The sale has reduced the Treasury's ownership of AIG's common equity from 53.4 per cent to 21.5 per cent. It remains AIG's biggest shareholder. But the removal of the US taxpayer as AIG's majority owner paves the way for the Federal Reserve to become its primary regulator. Equity investors in AIG will now face the possibility that the company's primary supervisor will not be as generous when it comes to dividends, stock buybacks and certain profitable yet risky business activities. For the US taxpayer, the sale represents an overall $12.4bn profit on the once-vilified rescue of what used to be the world's largest insurance group. The profit figure includes the $17.7bn recorded by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which closed down its AIG-related facilities last month. The Treasury will make a further $2.7bn of shares available for buyers over the next month to cover additional demand. More profits are likely to come. The US Treasury's remaining stake of 317m shares was worth $10.3bn at Monday's offering price. It's an enormous relief. The plan worked," said Jim Millstein, a former Treasury official who served as the architect of AIG's restructuring. "We did something that frankly we didn't do with any of the other big financials - we downsized it - and we saved the core earnings engine of the company for the benefit of the US Treasury," Mr Millstein added. I'm very proud. "I think that it's safe to say that the president is pleased with the progress being made as we wind down these investments and recover taxpayer money," said Jay Carney, White House press secretary. The Treasury and the Federal Reserve, which rescued AIG after soured bets on credit derivatives pushed it to the brink of failure in the autumn of 2008, ultimately supported the group with $182bn in investments and commitments. After a restructuring of its holdings, the Treasury ended up with 92 per cent of the company's common equity. "To stabilise and then restructure the company with a very substantial positive gain for the American taxpayer is a significant accomplishment," said Tim Geithner, Treasury secretary.