Early history
The American General Insurance Company was formed on May 8, 1926 by Gus Sessions Wortham in Houston, Texas. Wortham worked for the Texas Fire Rating Board in Austin, Texas before moving to Houston in 1912. Before starting American General, he worked at his father's insurance company, John L. Wortham & Son Agency, until his death in 1924.[9] Following his father's death, Wortham began the company in response to a Texas Commissions of Appeal ruling allowing that insurance companies may merge several lines of business.[10]
In 1953, American General hired life insurance veteran Benjamin N. Woodson as president. Woodson previously served at Mutual Trust Life Insurance Company, the National Association of Life Underwriters, and various other roles. Woodson would eventually succeed Wortham as CEO of the company in 1972 where he remained until retiring in 1978.[11]
In 1995, the company was the subject of Unitrin, Inc. v. American General Corp. American General tendered an offer for a controlling block of shares of Unitrin. The Board of Directors of Unitrin, who held 23% of the shares, did not think the price offered was adequate and so initiated a poison pill and offered a buyback to increase their holdings to 28% of the total shares. It became the leading case on a board of directors' ability to use defensive measures, such as poison pills or buybacks, to prevent a hostile takeover.[12][13]
NLT Corporation
The NLT Corporation was formed in 1900 as the National Sick and Accident Association. The Nashville, Tennessee firm became one of the country's largest life insurance companies. American General (AGC) announced a hostile takeover bid for NLT, which made a counter-offer to buy out AGC. In 1982, AGC, which had owned Nashville rival L&C since the 1960s, prevailed. Having acquired NLT, AGC merged the former rivals over the next decade and spun off the non-core assets of NLT, particularly its entertainment properties.[14] The Grand Ole Opry, Opryland theme park, WSM, and then fledgling cable television network The Nashville Network (TNN) were sold to what became Gaylord Entertainment Company.[15]
Acquisitions
In 1977, American General acquired The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company (VALIC), a provider of tax-deferred retirement plans for employees in education, healthcare, government, and non-profit organizations.[10][16] VALIC companies include VALIC Financial Advisors, Inc. and VALIC Retirement Services Company, which operate as Corebridge Financial subsidiaries within Corebridge Retirement Services.[10]
AIG agreed to acquire annuity provider SunAmerica Inc. in 1998, with the $18 billion stock transaction then reported as the second-largest in the history of the insurance industry.[17]
In 2001, it was announced that American General would be acquired by Prudential plc in a deal worth $26.6 billion. The deal was later called off after negative Prudential shareholder reaction.[18]
IPO and spin-off from AIG
Corebridge was formed as a result of a spin-off of AIG's retirement, life insurance, and wealth management segments. In 2020, AIG announced plans to perform the spin-off with a 2022 IPO. In July 2021, the company announced that Blackstone Group would acquire 9.9% of the new unit for $2.2 billion cash. Blackstone and AIG also entered a long-term asset management agreement for about one quarter of AIG's life and retirement portfolio, set to increase in subsequent years.[21] The new company was launched on September 15, 2022,[22] in the largest IPO of 2022 to date,[23] which raised a total of $1.68 billion.[24]
In September 2023, it was announced Corebridge would sell its subsidiary, the London-headquartered life insurance company AIG Life Limited (AIG Life UK) to the British multinational insurance company, Aviva
