About those bonuses

This is curious.

AIG said there were two categories of payments: One was for senior executives, the other for 2008 retention bonuses for employees that the company agreed to pay before the federal bailout, the official said. AIG said the retention bonuses were legally required to be paid despite the bailout, a view the Obama administration concluded was correct after a review of the contracts.

Breaking those contracts would have led to greater costs for taxpayers, the official said.

Ok, I get the retention bonuses (which were necessary to keep people at the company when this douchebag left), but what about the other category: senior executives? You know, the guys running this scheme.