Corebridge Financial, Inc. is an American

financial services Financial services are service (economics), economic services tied to finance provided by financial institutions. Financial services encompass a broad range of tertiary sector of the economy, service sector activities, especially as concerns finan ...

company. It provides

annuities In investment, an annuity is a series of payments made at equal intervals based on a contract with a lump sum of money. Insurance companies are common annuity providers and are used by clients for things like retirement or death benefits. Examples ...

life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typical ...

, retirement plans, wealth management, and other financial services through its four core businesses—individual retirement, life insurance, retirement services, and institutional markets. Corebridge was formed by an

AIG American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is an American multinational finance and insurance corporation with operations in more than 80 countries and jurisdictions. As of 2023, AIG employed 25,200 people. The company operates through three core ...

spin-off of the company via

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

in 2022. In 2024,

Nippon Life Insurance Company , also known as or is the largest Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea ...

acquired an equity interest in Corebridge Financial from AIG. Under the terms of the transaction, AIG agreed to maintain a 9.9% stake in Corebridge for two years.

History

Corebridge Financial was formed when AIG spun off the company in September 2022. In September 2024, the Corebridge brand name replaced AIG on the America Tower of the American General Center, its headquarters.

Early history

The American General Insurance Company was formed on May 8, 1926 by Gus Sessions Wortham in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Wortham worked for the Texas Fire Rating Board in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

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. 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. 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.Benjamin N. Woodson titles
Worldcat 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 A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

' ability to use defensive measures, such as poison pills or buybacks, to prevent a

hostile takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (law), company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are publicly listed, in contrast t ...

NLT Corporation

The NLT Corporation was formed in 1900 as the National Sick and Accident Association. The

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

firm became one of the country's largest life insurance companies. American General (AGC) announced a

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. The ''

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

'', Opryland theme park, WSM, and then fledgling cable television network

The Nashville Network The Nashville Network, usually referred to as TNN, was an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, game shows, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows. On September ...

(TNN) were sold to what became

Gaylord Entertainment Company Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. is a hotel, resort, entertainment, and media company named for one of its assets: the Ryman Auditorium, a National Historic Landmark in Nashville, Tennessee. The company's legal lineage can be traced back to it ...

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. VALIC companies include VALIC Financial Advisors, Inc. and VALIC Retirement Services Company, which operate as Corebridge Financial subsidiaries within Corebridge Retirement Services. 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. In 2001, it was announced that American General would be acquired by

Prudential plc Prudential plc is a British-domiciled Multinational corporation, multinational insurance and asset management company headquartered in London and Hong Kong. It was founded in London in May 1848 to provide loans to professional and working peop ...

in a deal worth $26.6 billion. The deal was later called off after negative Prudential shareholder reaction. After the deal failed to go through,

announced plans to acquire American General for $23 billion in stock. American General would continue to operate under AIG as their life insurance and retirement services subsidiary. In 2003, Old Line Life Insurance merged with American General.

IPO and spin-off from AIG

Corebridge was formed as a result of a spin-off of

'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 Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. It was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions firm by Peter Peterson and Stephen Schwarzman, who had previously worked together at Lehman ...

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. The new company was launched on September 15, 2022, in the largest IPO of 2022 to date, which raised a total of $1.68 billion. In September 2023, it was announced Corebridge would sell its subsidiary, the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

-headquartered life insurance company AIG Life Limited (AIG Life UK) to the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

multinational insurance company,

Aviva Aviva plc is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It has about 19 million customers across its core markets of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada. In the United Kingdom, Aviva is the largest general ...

for £460 million. Corebridge sold subsidiary Irish health insurer Laya Healthcare to

AXA Axa S.A. is a French multinational insurance corporation headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It also provides investment management and other financial services via its subsidiaries. As of 2024, it is the fourth largest financi ...

, for €650 million, on October 31, 2023.

References

External links

* {{Blackstone Companies Financial services companies of the United States American International Group American companies established in 2022 Insurance companies based in Texas Companies based in Houston Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange 2022 initial public offerings 1926 establishments in Texas